Take Me Back
by thesoundofsunshine
Summary: “You know, you’re a little too obsessed with Connect 3.” If only she knew how we both grew up, and went our separate ways. And, that’s why I have their pictures all over my room. I was hoping we could fall back into old routine of being best friends.
1. Obsession

**Here's my new story idea. First story of twenty ten. I'm excited. I hope you all like the idea as much as I do.**

**Disclaimer: Here we go with these things again. I do not own the characters, the plot, the idea, whatever. This is strictly for fun.**

"You know, you're a little too obsessed with them," Sierra said, as I gripped my phone waiting for the number to get free backstage passes to see Connect 3.

"SHHHHH!" I silenced Sierra, as I rolled my eyes. If only she knew why I was so obsessed.

"Be the third caller to call us," The woman said; as I pressed send on my phone. My hand started to sweat. I was so nervous that the phone would slip out of my hand. My heart started racing a mile a minute as the dial tone kept going and going and going and going.

"Hello, lucky caller number three-" That was all I needed to hear. I let out the loudest, highest pitch shriek that had ever been heard, "- Your name?"

"Mitchie," I said, forgetting my last name for a moment, "Mitchie Torres."

"Oh my god," Sierra said, as she flopped onto my bed. My tongue was a twisted knot. I could barely breathe right. I swear, I'm going to have a heart attack. I put my free hand to my chest as if to slow down my pulse.

"Mitchie Torres, you just need to come down to the station by noon tomorrow to collect your three backstage passes to Connect 3's show this Friday," The woman finished saying. I knew where the station was. My cheeks started to hurt from smiling so much in such a short time.

"Thank you. Oh my god, thank you so much," I said, shaking. The woman said goodbye and hung up. I put my phone on my dresser before screaming one more time. It was out of my system now. I started to jump around my room.

"What's going on?" Mom asked, poking her head in my room.

"Connect 3. Take me to the radio station. I need to go," I said, as I tried to stop smiling. My mom nodded her head towards the hallway.

"Come on girls," My mom said. She knew why I was so obsessed. Sierra put on her flip flops and followed me down the stairs. We got in the car, Sierra and I both in the backseat. My mom turned on the radio, Connect 3's hit single Play My Music. I saw Sierra roll her eyes in my peripheral vision. She mumbled something in Cantonese as I tried to dance to the pulsing beat.

---

"Mitchie, you're gonna sweat the ink right off of the ticket," Sierra said, as my mom pulled into the driveway. I've had these tickets in my hand for an hour. Stupid traffic made getting home such a chore.

"Oh no, that can't happen," I said, moving the tickets to my other hand, which was indubitality less sweaty.

"So, honey, what are you going to wear?" My mom asked, sending a wave of panic through my entire body. I had no idea. Did I have anything Connect 3 worthy?

"Why would you ask her that? She's panicking," Sierra said. It was true. I had no clue. I jumped out of the car, opened my front door, and dashed straight up to my room. I started rifling through my closet. The concert was tomorrow night. I didn't have time to construct a new outfit. I needed new clothes, and now!

"Can you sleepover?" I asked Sierra from my closet. I heard her flip flop into my room. Sleepovers were regular.

"Not tonight. Sorry. My cousin is passing through, and she's gonna be here for dinner and a good majority of tomorrow. Then, she's back on her journey to college," Sierra said. I found a pair of black beat up skinny jeans.

"How about after the concert?" I asked, questioning skinny jeans or shorts. Would it be hot or cold backstage? I needed to know how to dress. Should I bring a jacket? Summer nights do tend to get a bit colder.

"Of course," Sierra said, picking up the discarded clothes from the floor. She wasn't a huge fan of Connect 3. It was too 'bubblegum pop' for her, but she would go for me. I loved that about her. She is my best friend. But, before she moved to town in first grade my best friend was a boy. But, he moved on to bigger and better things, leaving me behind in the dust.

"Good," I said, smiling into the depths of my closet. I was quickly running out of clothes to throw onto the floor.

"Hey, can I wear this to the concert?" Sierra said. I turned around. She was holding my light purple shirt that fell off one shoulder. It was super eighties, and I adored it.

"Sure," I said, smiling. I went back to tearing clothes out of my closet, "Shorts or jeans?"

"Hm…" Sierra said, pondering the idea, "Tasteful shorts. Not those skanky ones you wear to the pool."

"Maybe these?" I said, holding up a pair of jean shorts. Sierra shook her head, her wild brown curls flying all over the place around her head.

"This," Sierra said, holding up a pair of white skinny jeans. They still had the price tags on them because I didn't trust myself. White is such a hard color to keep clean.

"You sure?" I asked in a tentative voice. I didn't want them to get dirty. I didn't want t look ridiculous with some kind of stain on them. Plus, bleaching then clean wasn't always the best way to wash clothes.

"Definitely sure," Sierra said, checking my clock on the wall. She had time. It was only four thirty. Her dinner always started a six o'clock.

"Alright," I said, taking them in my hands. The last thing I had in my hands were the tickets. Those were the key into my past. Where did I put them? I started throwing clothes back into my closet, trying to uncover any space where I could have put them down. Sierra was smiling.

"What are you doing?" Sierra asked. I probably looked like a madwoman, throwing clothes back into my closet, frantically scanning every surface I could in the mean time.

"I don't remember where I put the tickets and backstage passes," I said, closing my closet door. I started to walk out of my room to check the living room when I had ran through. I needed those.

"Wait," Sierra said, as I stopped. Something touched my butt, Sierra was holding the tickets, "They were in your back pocket."

"Thank you," I said, hugging Sierra. I quickly cut the hug off, and took the tickets and passes into my hand. I put them on my dresser, so I would see them when I went into or left my room. I was not losing those precious pieces of paper ever again.

"Sierra, honey, your mom wants you home," My mom said, walking into my room. It probably was the cleanest she'd seen it in a while, spare the white skinny jeans that were on the floor.

"Alright. I'll be here at like four tomorrow," Sierra said, grabbing the purple shirt I was letting her borrow.

"Sounds good," My mom said, leaving my room and going back downstairs. Sierra and I had a short hug.

"I'll walk you to the door," I said, leaving my room with my best friend. Her mom was sitting in the living room with my mom.

"Hi Mrs. Stocker," I said, waving at Sierra's mom. She was told me a mill – "I told you to call me Janice," – ion times to call her Janice.

"Can I sleepover after the concert?" Sierra asked her mom, as Janice looked at my mom. My mom nodded.

"Sure sweetie," Janice said, as her daughter shortly squealed, "Well, we should get home. I have to finish preparing dinner, and Michelle is almost here."

"Yup," Sierra said, as she walked towards the front door with my purple shirt.

"Bye Connie. Thanks for taking Sierra to this concert," Janice said, as she walked towards the main entrance.

"You better wear those white skinny jeans, Mitch," Sierra said, as her mom opened the door.

"I will," I said, "You better be wearing that purple shirt."

"I will," Sierra said, right before closing the door behind her. It was me and my mom for now, until daddy got back from the hardware store.

"How excited are you to see your best friend from when you were a tot?" My mom asked me, as I watched Sierra and her mom walk across our lawn to their home.

"Very. I just hope all of those magazines are wrong about him being a total monster," I said, as my mom soothingly shook my shoulder.

"I'm sure they are," My mom said, as she took out her cell phone.

"And, I hope he recognizes me," I softly said. A lot had changed in ten years. We both grew up, and went our separate ways. I was just hoping our past would hold us together.

"I'm sure he will. I'm just going to call Denise. Tell her the exciting news," My mom said, pressing some buttons on her phone. My stomach flipped. Telling his mom that we were going backstage. And, that's why I was so obsessed with them.

**You like the idea? Yes? No? The green button below doesn't bite, or hurt to click.**


	2. Mister Attitude

**I'm so glad at all of the good things I heard about the first chapter. Plus, all of the favorites and alerts. You guys are amazing!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

"Come on Mitchie," My mom yelled up to my room. It was only two minutes after four. We would be fine. She wanted to leave super early so she could catch up with Denise, who was more than thrilled to have us along. In fact, she was glad it was us, not some psycho fangirl who squealed and would never wash her hand again.

I checked in my full length mirror one more time. The white skinny jeans looked fabulous. I put on a simple regular, but vibrant blue tank top. I put on my old black converses. After all, the only way to wear converses is them being all beat up. My hair was straightened, bangs pinned out of my face since I was trying to grow them out. I grabbed my purse, which contained: lip gloss, tickets and backstage passes, some cash, my phone, house keys. I was ready to go.

"Coming!" I finally shouted back. I grabbed a light black hoodie before sprinting out of my room. I dashed down the stairs, and Sierra looked stunning. Suddenly, I wanted to run back upstairs. I needed them to recognize me, not stare at Sierra. Bad, bad Mitchie.

"Finally," My mom said, as she left the house. I rolled my eyes, as me and Sierra followed in suit.

"I kind of have a lot to tell you," I mentioned to Sierra on the way to the car, "Please don't hate me."

"I could never," Sierra said as the two of climbed in the backseat. My mom started the car. Seatbelts were clicked on. And, off we were.

"Well, Shane used to be my best friend," I dropped the bomb not even five minutes into our hour long journey to the stadium.

"What?" Sierra asked, her jaw hanging open. I nodded my head.

"Yea," I said, biting my lip.

"How come this was never mentioned before?" Sierra asked, sounding a little offended. Oops.

"The last person I told didn't believe me," I shamefully said. It was true. But, it sounded so stupid coming out of my mouth.

"He lived across the street in the Miller's house. Denise and I were so close, and I often helped take care of her three boys," My mom said, confirming everything. Last time I told someone, I didn't have my mom there to confirm it. I felt ridiculous.

"I'm happy that you want to see him again. But, he's such a jerk now," Sierra venomously said. I rolled my eyes.

"And, those are only rumors," I said, hoping he wasn't really as bad as the press made him seem.

---

"No, I said I wanted it room temperature. This is from the fridge. Get me a new one," I heard as the three of us were escorted backstage by some big black security guard.

"I'm sorry Shane," Some meek voice said. I saw Sierra shoot me an I-told-you-so face. I rolled my eyes.

"Hey guys. These are the contest winners," The security guard said, presenting us to a plush backstage room. Nate was playing on his guitar. Jason was staring at the ceiling. And, Shane looked thoroughly pissed with his phone balancing on his knee.

"Will you play Webkinz with me?" Some younger boy, who looked like Nate when he was younger, ran up to Sierra.

"Gabe, no one wants to play with Webkinz," Shane said, nearly spitting at the word. I rolled my eyes. This definitely wasn't Shane. What was up his butt?

"Told you," Sierra whispered to me, before kneeling down to the saddened Gabe, "Of course I'll play Webkinz with you."

"Ha! She wants to play Webkinz with me," Gabe said to Shane, all in-your-face like. I adored this little boy.

"Connie?" Denise said, before shrilling a bit. Those two exchanged a hug. "I have so much to tell you."

"Likewise," My mom said, leaving with Denise. She added as an afterthought, "Behave girls."

"You know? She looks a tad familiar," Nate said studying my face. I blushed and looked to the ground. I was so bashful. I mean, I had taken baths with these boys…when I was a tot, of course. Oh my god. My face felt like it was on fire. Was it too early to leave? I needed time to clear my head.

"She–" Sierra started to say, before I slapped my hand over her mouth.

"Let them figure it out. If they never do, I can live with that," I whispered to Sierra. The man, who brought cold water to Shane before, walked back in with a new bottle.

"Here Shane," The man said, handing the water to Shane.

"Better," Shane said, without thanking the poor guy. It was like he took on the role of Mr. I'm-A-Freaking-Pop-Star-Bow-Down-And-Do-As-I-Say. It was a long title, but it fit well.

"You know, manners go a long way," Sierra snapped as the poor guy walked towards the door. I felt bad for her. The wrath of Shane seems violent, demeaning, and scarring. I shot a panicked look at Sierra.

"Who do you think you are? My mother?" Shane asked, cocking his head. His voice was full of rebellious attitude. I rolled my eyes.

"Your mother raised you a lot better than that," I said, full of confidence.

"Well, excuse me, Miss I'm-Right-About-Everything–" Shane said, getting up. Nate put his guitar aside, and stood up with Shane.

"Knock it off Shane," Nate said, forcefully pushing Shane back onto the couch. Shane huffed, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You acted more mature when you were seven than you do now," I said in almost a condescending voice. People say your past bring out the worst in you. I guess they're right.

"Yea, cause you would know," Shane mumbled, rolling his eyes. I walked directly up to him and looked him in the face.

"I used to know you better than you knew yourself. I don't know what happened, but this is not the Shane I married in your backyard before the first day of kindergarten," I said in Shane's face before I stormed out of the room. I had no clue where I was going, but I needed to make a dramatic exit.

"I knew she looked familiar!" Nate exclaimed, his voice full of happiness. I smiled. I found a small bathroom, so I went in there. Someone knocked on the door. I opened the door. It was Nate.

"Hey," I said, exiting the bathroom. Sierra was directly behind Nate.

"Mitchie, right?" Nate said, scrunching up his eyebrows.

"Yea. I was hoping someone would recognize me," I said, lightly laughing. Nate just smiled on.

"Well, I did. And, don't take Shane personally. He's been on edge for a while," Nate simply said, smoothing over everything for his brother.

"You did good Mitch," Sierra said, before I could say anything to Nate, "He was pretty much speechless for a good minute before we left."

"Thanks guys," I said, giving them each a short thankful glance and smile, "Think it's safe to go back?"

"Big Rob'll protect you," Nate joked, throwing a smile in my direction.

**Fin. I know I should have done more. But, I needed to get this up. Plus, I have a buttload of homework. It deeply saddens me. Anyways, I've decided that I'm going to try to update every Monday – Wednesday – Saturday. So check for updates then. Also, reviews are my favorite.**


	3. Opening the Home

**I don't think I've ever had such amazing reviewers. Seriously, keep them coming. They are awesome.**

**Disclaimer: I own every single thing about Camp Rock, let me just post it here, instead of making it into a movie. Jeez.**

"That was an amazing show," Nate said, walking back into the little room where Sierra and I had pretty much stayed the entire time. Gabe had begged us to play Webkinz. I mean, who wouldn't resist his little chubby face and brown curls. He was so damn adorable. The rest of the time Sierra and I were standing on the left wing of the stage. It was a little overpowering by all of the people, the fans, screaming. Imagine tripping or falling off the stage. How embarrassing?

"It was alright," Shane said, with sweat dripping off his forehead. He had his head bent over his phone. Everyone was settled in, except for Jason. Who, if I remember right, was always a bit spacey? He strolled in carrying a…Polaroid? Who had those anymore?

"Look," Jason said, putting the picture in front of my face. Sierra leaned over to look at is, as well. I smiled. It was my wedding to Shane.

"Mitch, your dress is so cute," Sierra squealed. It was my Easter dress from the year before. My mom told me I wasn't allowed to wear it, but I snuck it out of her closet and changed. Denise told my mom who was a little disappointed, but dropped it quickly.

"Those were the days when Shane was a human being," Nate said, leaning over the couch edge to get a glance at the picture. Shane didn't react as his fingers flew over his keyboard.

"And, there's this one," Jason said, switching pictures. This one was a like two year old Jason, holding a little baby with dark brown tuffs of hair.

"Is that me?" I asked, not really believing I was so small. I mean, I know I was that small. But, just grasping the idea was crazy.

"Yea. It's me and you," Jason said, smiling. He sounded so proud of that fact. I smiled.

"It's so cute," Sierra commented on the picture before turning back to her purple dinosaur Webkin.

"No one cares about the past. There's a reason we don't talk about it. It's over. You can never get things to go back to how they were," Shane angrily said before walking out of the room, slipping his phone into his back pocket.

"What is his deal?" I asked, as Jason sat next to Nate on the couch. I was still on the floor, sitting criss-cross applesauce like you do in kindergarten.

"We're not the ones to tell you. If he wants to tell you, he'll come around to it," Nate said, looking at his clasped hands. Wow. An unnecessary awkward silence settled in.

"So, what's it like performing on the stage and all? With all those people out there?" I questioned away. Jason and Nate shared a look before Nate opened his mouth.

"It's inspiring," Nate said, "To know that everything we've worked for is appreciated."

"Best feeling ever," Jason added to Nate's little blurb.

"Why?" Nate asked, raising an eyebrow. I flushed and looked over to where Sierra and Gabe were playing with his stuffed animals, ahem, Webkinz.

"She wants to sing and dance around the stage like some kind of cookie cutter popstar," Sierra said, adding her own twist on it. I rolled my eyes, and looked at my hands. My hands wouldn't get me in any trouble. Plus, they wouldn't go off spilling huge secrets.

"Really?" Jason asked, as I decided to lift my head. Nate had on his thinking face. I remembered that from when he would scheme as a little tot.

"Yea," I said, biting my lip, casting my eyes downwards. Sierra would pay for this.

"Well, that's great Mitchie. You should get out there and do what you love," Nate said, his voice sounding so sincere. But, he hadn't lost that grin of his. I rolled my eyes.

"Nate. What are you thinking?" I asked, feeling a little scared. I barely notice Shane walk back in, until I heard his fingers hitting the keys on his phone.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," Nate sarcastically said, waving the air with his hand. I buried my face in my hands.

_*click click click*_

"Do you ever stop texting for two minutes in your life?" Sierra loudly asked, with a heavy undertone of annoyance. I silently snickered. He looked at her, and all I could think was: If looks could kill. Though Sierra didn't bend at his glare.

"Nope," Shane simply said, popping the p. I rolled my eyes, and turned my body to face him.

"I never thought Shane would be a texter," I said, looking at him. He shrugged his shoulders; his hair covering his entire face.

"I never thought you'd be this annoying," Shane said, as I could feel him roll his eyes. I got the overwhelming urge to slap him silly. I was turning back to Nate and Jason, the more hospitable of the three.

"Boys, great news," Denise said, rushing in with my mom. Denise brought in a heavy scent of pomegranates; it was a comforting smell of my past. "Connie opened her home to us."

"What?" I asked, my voice raising a pitch at the end, and leaving my jaw open.

"Honey, she said they would be sleeping on their tour bus. And, they have two more shows here before they move on with their tour," My mom said, as she came over and kissed the top of my head. Jason snickered. I shot him a dirty glance.

"But, I don't want to 'open my home' to that, that thing," I said, putting air quotes around Denise's words, and nearly spitting at the thought of Shane being in my house. He was such an ass.

"I'll sleep outside," Shane jokingly offered. I smiled.

"Good," I said, ignoring the shut-up glare from my mom, "Cause I wouldn't let you in."

"I wouldn't want to go into your stupid house," Shane said, as I turned around to face him. For once, he wasn't staring at his phone. He was staring at me. As we were in our heated discussion.

"Well, it's not like I would let you anyway," I said, feeling a little bashful. I had already said that.

"You already used that. Take two Torres?" Shane said, calling me out on it, as he cocked his head to the left. Dammit. He was so cute when he did that. Whoa whoa whoa. Shane was NOT cute. He was annoying. He was a simple key to my past. That's it. I mean, I married him when I was in Kindergarten, so he must have been appealing then.

"I cannot stand living in the same house as him," I said, turning to my mom. She rolled her eyes.

"Now, now lovebirds," Denise said, making everyone in the room snicker, except me and Shane. I didn't want to glance at him. But, I could feel my blush deepening. I was mortified.

"They're only going to be with us for a few days. I'm sure you two could make amends for that," My mom said, "And, Sierra you're still welcome to sleepover."

"Thanks Mrs. Torres," Sierra said, over her shoulder. She was a little caught up playing with her purple dinosaur that she named Dina.

"When we get on the bus, boys, I want you to pack a suitcase with things you must have inside. The bus will be parked here," Denise said. Something just popped into my head and it needed to be shared.

"Mom, where are we going to put all these people?" I questioned, seeing as we had ONE guest room with ONE bed. Clearly, five people we're going to try and fit on one bed? I don't get it.

"We already figured this out," Denise said, I suppose leaving the rest up to my mom. Faintly in the background, I could hear Shane clicking the keys on his phone.

"The sofa and loveseat both pull out into beds. The guest room. My day bed has a smaller slide out underneath," My mom said, as Denise picked up where she left off.

"I'll be with Connie. Gabe will be in the guest room because it's closer to me. But, all of our stuff will be in there, as well. You three can figure out how to split up the two pullout couches," Denise said. My mom and Denise looked at each other and smiled. It was like they never had any sort of distance between them and their relationship.

"I get to sleep alone. You two can share," Shane said, as I noticed he didn't lift his head. He needed to be more nice and outgoing. He could use the good publicity.

"What about dad?" Nate asked, as I scrunched up my eyebrows. That was a very good point Nathaniel.

"He said he was going to stay at some hotel, with the tour managers. Don't worry about it," Denise said, which made me worry a bit. It didn't sound like a 'don't worry about it' situation. It sounded serious. Whatever the case maybe, this was going to be one interesting week.

**Any thoughts? Just click the green box. Should Nate and Sierra have a thing? Just tell me by clicking the green box. How many of you realized Gabe is Frankie? Tell me by clicking the green box. What are your thoughts on Adam Lambert? I'll write back, promise.**


	4. Blueberry Pancakes

**I actually have a lot planned for this story. I just hope you all stick with me to the end.**

**Disclaimer: Yup. Still own NOTHING.**

"Mom, I cannot believe you're letting them into our house," I complained on the way home, "I know that we used to be best friends, but that was the past."

"Honey, Denise and her boys are not going to be living out of a bus for a week," My mom stated the obvious. I didn't see why they couldn't. That's how they had been touring for a few years now. It was nothing new to them.

"And, Shane is such an annoying, I'm-Mightier-Than-You. I hate it," I said, rolling my eyes. A part of me was hoping, wishing, praying that not a thing would change; we could all slip into how it used to be. But, used was past tense. A tense that I couldn't get back.

"People change. Nate and Jason seemed the same," My mom commented, as we got off the parkway at our exit. I sunk in my seat.

"Don't worry about it Mitch. You could always just come over my house, and leave them behind," Sierra said, showing off a devilish smile. I liked where she was coming from. It was so true. I could easily just walk across the yard, and be in my own sanctuary.

"Oh no. No sleepovers while we have guests. We are treating them like family," My mom said, as Sierra shot me a sorry look. My mom didn't stop talking though, "Sierra can sleepover. But, Mitchie you are not allowed to ditch this."

"Fine. Doesn't mean I have to be happy with it," I said, crossing my arms. I didn't want to be anywhere near Shane and his stuck up attitude.

---

I woke up with the need for a drink. I rolled my eyes as I rolled out of bed. My feet softly hit the chilly floor as I remember what had happened early today. They had moved into our house without a hitch. I spent the night eating popcorn with Sierra and Gabe. We watched Cars. Gabe was told to shower and sleep. He complied when the movie ended. Sierra and I danced around my room like madwomen, gossiped about the night, before falling asleep around midnight.

I flicked on the kitchen light, and walked over to the cabinet where the glasses were. I took one out that I had decorated when I was younger. I opened the fridge, and took out the orange juice. I pour it into my glass. I put the orange juice away, and sat at the day table in the kitchen.

"Hey," A voice said from behind, making me jump. I almost screamed and spilt my orange juice all over myself. I turned around. None other than Shane.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my heart still racing from being scared. I finished off the rest of my cup, and put it on the table.

"Couldn't sleep. Decided to get water. You?" Shane said, not giving any hint of attitude. See, this was the Shane I missed from when I was younger.

"Woke up thirsty," I simply said, as Shane started opening all of the cabinets, "Last one to your left."

"Oh," Shane said, as I put my dirty glass away. Shane handed the regular green and blue striped cup to me. I filled it up, seeing as I was standing over the sink. "Thank you."

"No problem," I said, as he sat down at the table. I had a quick internal debate about just going to bed, or talking with a normal acting Shane.

"What was up your butt today?" I asked, still standing at the sink. Shane turned to me with the most quizzical expression. And, I noticed that he wasn't furiously texting. I smiled.

"What do you mean Mitchie?" Shane said, some of his attitude quipping back. I rolled my eyes.

"Just that, you should get your act together, and drop the attitude because it's not becoming of you," I said, walking out of the kitchen. I was on my way back upstairs, to sleep this entire Shane bipolar-ness off.

"Mitchie, wait," Shane said, as I stopped. He walked out of the kitchen, flicking off the light. The living room was now pitch black except for the weak night light, dimly setting his figure aglow.

"What Shane?" I asked, just wanting sleep. I wasn't in the mood for mind games.

"Nothing, go get some sleep," Shane said, as I continued walking. I knew I should have asked him what was wrong, but I couldn't. He walked across the living room and onto the pullout couch. I walked up the stairs, and right back into my room. As if the entire interaction had ceased to exist.

---

"Wow Mitchie," Shane said, as I walked down the stairs for breakfast. Honestly, I just wanted some pancakes. I didn't need his attitude.

"What do you want from me Shane?" I asked, giving as much attitude as he gave me. Sierra continued walking into the kitchen where my mom and Denise were talking and cooking. I could smell it. Yum.

"You look pretty," Shane sardonically said. I rolled my eyes. I did not need this from him. I mean, I was the one walking downstairs with my retainer, glasses, zit cream, and messy hair; earlier this morning he didn't have a problem talking to me. He was even, dare I say it, nice.

"Thanks Shane. You're real attractive yourself," I sarcastically said, as I walked into the kitchen with my head held high. I put my retainer away in its case on top of the fridge.

"Morning girls," Denise said, smiling as she stacked some pancakes onto a plate and passed them to my mom. My mom put them on the table, where Sierra was waiting with a glass of milk. I saw next to her.

"Morning Mitchie," My mom said, as Sierra and I each grabbed two pancakes for our plates, "Sleep well?"

"It wasn't that bad," I said, pouring syrup over them. Gabe walked into the kitchen rubbing his eyes.

"Morning baby," Denise said, kissing Gabe's forehead. He sheepishly smiled, as he sat next to Sierra.

"Hey Gabe," Sierra and I said as he grabbed two blueberry pancakes.

"You made blueberry ones?" I asked, wanting to know why I hadn't been informed of this before. I loved blueberry pancakes. They were my favorite.

"Yea," Denise said, as she called her boys into eat. The three of them ran in, overtaking the kitchen. In a second, all of the pancakes were gone from the center plate. I guess it was true. Boys do eat a lot more than girls.

**Sorry it's short. I'm a bit ashamed of the length. Forgive me?**

**PS. Check out my drabble Tell It Again. It's Naitlyn. Oh, speaking of. What if Caitlyn came into the story? Would you guys like to see some Naitlyn action, and maybe Sierra with Jason? Feedback is always welcomed.**


	5. You Tackled a Girl

**The reviews were lacking. I felt a little sadden. Come on, the reviews make me smile and they make me want to update. You should want me to feel inspired to update. But, if you don't care just ignore this.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

"Mitchie, why don't you show the boys around town?" My mom asked, suggested, requested of me. I rolled my eyes. I mean, my hair was still dripping wet from my shower and Sierra hadn't come back from her house yet. I was not taking them alone. And, I wasn't taking Shane. Period.

"Is the dairy still there?" Nate asked, smiling. I nodded. His eyes lit up like a little kids do at the promise of ice cream. I laughed. Shane mocked my laughed, as he typed away on his phone. I rolled my eyes.

"Boys, go get dressed, so you can see the town," Denise said, as Jason and Nate complied. They went right upstairs to get ready. Shane just sat there, willing his phone to vibrate or something. Denise pursed her lips, "Shane, you too."

"I'm not in the mood for ice cream," Shane simply said, as his phone buzzed. He quickly picked it up, and typed away. Denise walked right across the living room, snatching the phone out of Shane's hands. I stood there, a wicked smirk on my face.

"Now, I don't care if you don't want ice cream, you will get dressed and go out there," Denise said, slipping his phone into her pocket. His face was full of defeat. And, he looked a little awkward without his head bent over his phone.

"This is your fault," Shane whispered, narrowing his eyes as he walked by me to the stairs. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Very mature, Mitchie," Sierra said. I hadn't even notice her come in. Her hair looked blow dried. It looked very nice.

"When did you get here?" I asked, sitting on the couch. Sierra quickly joined me.

"When Shane was getting his phone taken away," Sierra said, as I tried to stifle a laugh. Gabe came pounding the stairs, with another set of stampeding feet following him.

"Give me that back Gabriel!" Shane shouted, as Gabe hurdled the couch. Now, Sierra and I were in between the brothers. I stood up, and moved Shane away from Gabe with my hand.

"Don't hurt him," I simply said to the fuming Shane. This kid had some serious anger issues.

"He took my hair product," Shane said, sounding a little less angry than he did before. Gabe was now curled up next to Sierra. I continued pushing Shane across the living room.

"So, put on a hat," I said, slowly making everything better. I could feel Shane's heartbeat through my hand. I was slowing down.

"I don't have a hat," Shane said, sounding defeated. He was still staring back at Gabe. And, believe me, I was prepared to stick out my foot or something to protect the innocent.

"Then, just go as you are. Your hair looks fine," I said, as Shane finally looked at me. We were at the landing of the staircase. I turned him towards the stairs, "As a matter of fact, it looked fantastic. Sex hair is in."

Shane grumbled before going back up that stairs. I was proud at how I had handled that. Nate came down the stairs, as I was making sure Shane went all the way up.

"I thought for sure Gabe was going to be dead," Nate said, as he got to the bottom. The two of us started walking over to the couch where Sierra and Gabe were.

"Hey Mitch. Come here," My mom said from the kitchen. I walked over to the threshold, and poked my head in.

"Yea," I simply said, making my existence known. Denise and my mom were smiling.

"You handled that really well," Denise said, sliding Shane's phone across the countertop. I looked at it quizzically. "Hold onto it. Give it back when he deserves it."

"I don't really want to be responsible for this," I said, pushing it away from me. I didn't want to get in the way of Shane's wrath.

"Honey, he listens to you better than anyone else," Denise stated matter-of-factly. I flushed.

"Alright," I said, taking Shane's phone into my hands. It buzzed. I turned it off, and put it on top of the fridge. "I'll need to put it in my room, but were getting ice cream right now."

"Okay. But, he's all yours," Denise said, as I left the room. I was being left to disciplining Shane. That couldn't get ugly or anything.

---

"That was nice," Sierra said, as we got to my house. The ice cream excursion had been nothing big. A couple of girls wanted Connect 3 signatures, and a picture. It was no big deal. Sierra and I had Gabe to keep us entertained while the boys had their moment of fame.

"This happens all the time," Gabe reassured us, as we laughed along. I mean, we didn't have to pay for our ice cream, which was nice.

"Wow Torres, walk much," Shane sarcastically said as I stumbled over a step. I rolled my eyes, and took a moment to gather my thoughts before lashing out at him.

"At least I have my phone," I weakly said, pointing to the bulge in my pocket. Sierra and Gabe want inside, as Jason showed Nate some kind of bird that was perched in the tree. I'm not sure.

"Are you sure that's a phone, or are you really a man?" Shane asked, as my eyes bugged out of my head. He had to be kidding me.

"Oh yea, definitely. Sex change in the third grade. I used to be Michael," I said, dropping my voice as low as it could go. Shane laughed.

"Well, then I'd have to be gay," Shane said. I thought about it for a moment, before getting it. I blushed, and pushed the hair behind my ear.

"I thought you already were," I non-chalantly said as I let myself into my house, closing the door on him. I walked right into the kitchen, making sure the back door was unlocked. I was formulating the perfect Get-On-Shane's-Nerves Plan.

"I like girls," Shane said, walking into the house. I poked my head into the living room, but not before grabbing his phone. Sierra and Gabe were watching some kids show on the TV. She was so good with little kids. I've been telling her this since middle school. She should be a preschool teacher.

"I'm not going to judge you any differently," I said, walking back into the kitchen. I kept his phone behind my back. He took the bait, and followed me.

"Mitchie," Shane said, rubbing his face. He was getting enraged as it was.

"I have something," I said, after a few moments watching Shane's eyes scan my face.

"What?" Shane asked, clearly getting curious. I flashed him a wicked smile, before putting my free hand on the handle of the back door.

"This," I said, showing him his precious beloved phone. His eyes lit up. That was all I needed to see. I pushed the door open, trying to close it before he could get out, jumping over the railing of the deck. I landed on the ground, and took a little tumble. Shane was close behind. I ran off to where Jason and Nate were. Jason was busy watching the birds float around their nest.

"Wha –" Nate went to ask, when I grabbed his arm. I was pulling him with me.

"Run," I simply demanded from him. We were getting to the front yard, and the corner where the front of my house and the side meet. There was a heavy row of bushes. I turned the corner and jumped into them. I didn't forget to drag Nate with me.

"Wh –" Nate started to say, before I threw my hand over his mouth. We were both panting, and I was enjoying Shane run on, looking thoroughly pissed. Mission accomplished. I flashed Nate Shane's phone. His eyes got huge, "Did you go through it?"

"No," I said, feeling a little foolish. Surely, that would be the first thing to do. I mean, this kid lived off of his phone. Nate took the phone, and opened it. I felt a little guilty, "You keep it for now. He won't suspect a thing."

Nate nodded. I came out from the bushes, and walked back to where we had left Jason. He was still laying there, a contented smile on his face. I spotted Shane walking around the corner. Shit. By the time my legs registered to run, Shane had nearly caught up with me. I barely made it to my backyard before Shane tackled me.

"You just tackled a girl," I obliviously stated. I'm sure he knew what he had done.

"Give it to me," Shane seethed. I smiled.

"I seem to have lost it," I innocently said, rolling my eyes. Shane looked ready to kill.

"You what?" Shane asked, his eyes huge. I thought he was going to strangle me right then and there.

"I hid it. You'll get it back when you're a good boy," I said in a teacher-esque voice, before boop-ing his nose. Which seemed to be the Get-Shane-Calm-Button because he instantly calmed down.

"Hey, love birds," Jason said, which at first I thought he was talking to the real birds in the trees; I knew he was obsessed, but come on, "No making out in the backyard there's people who don't want to see that."

"We weren't…" Was all I could get out before turning a furious red color. Shane got off of me. I bit my lip. This was beyond, beyond awkward.

"Sure you weren't," Jason said, walking towards the backdoor. He threw an overdramatic wink in our direction. I wanted to sink in the ground, and never come back. Shane and I would never ever be lovebirds. He was too arrogant for my taste. Plus, he didn't like a regular girl like me.

**This chapter made me extremely happy, besides the choppiness. I wish Shane and Mitchie would just get together already. Don't you?**


	6. You and Him, So Obvious

**Here comes Caitlyn! And, I am terribly sorry about not updating. I had midterms; those who have them surely knows how much of a pain they can be. I barely had enough time to sleep, and socialize, let alone type up another chapter. I'm sorry. However, midterms are over, and I'm back. WHOO!**

**Disclaimer: I own the Jonas Brothers and the Camp Rock characters. Get real.**

"Mitchie, would it be entirely possible for you to act civil with Shane?" My mom asked me after dinner. I rolled my eyes at her. A proper teenage girl reply.

"I think it would hurt too much," I said, glancing at my blue band-aid. Shane and I had a fight over the butter, so we had a knife fight. He gave me a cut. But, my mom wouldn't hear. She said it was 'my fault.' I didn't cut myself. Then, he threw a roll at me during dinner. I threw it back and threaten to punch his face in if he didn't stop. I was being a perfect little girl.

"Well, work on it, or you're going to be grounded," My mom said, leaving my room. I was so confused. How did I almost get myself grounded?

"Hey Mitchie," Nate said, walking in my room. I tried to fake my best smile at him. I was a little annoyed at my mother. He gave me a questioning look. I brushed it off.

"Oh, and Denise said that Connect 3's technical producer assistant just flew in," My mom said, as I didn't see the purpose of this. Nate's smile blossomed.

"Caitlyn?" Nate asked, his cheeks tingeing pink. I almost bursted. Nate had a girlfriend.

"I think so. Anyway, Denise mentioned how close she was to the boys, specifically Nate –" My mom said, before I cut her off. She kept talking and talking and talking. There had to be a point to this.

"Come on, mom," I said, needing some answers. I wasn't letting some girl I didn't know into my home. It was bad enough I had to deal with Shane. Now, I might have to worry about Nate and that girl making out everywhere I turn. Ick.

"So, we're letting her stay here. She was going to stay with Denise in the hotel, but they're not in a hotel," My mom, almost leaving this one huge open ended situation.

"Awesome," I muttered. If I saw Nate and that girl at it, I was going to run away.

"You will be nice to her," My mom said, leaving, for what I hoped would be the final time. Every time she walked in here, she came with more bad news. Well, she thought it was fine news, but it was bad, really bad.

"So, who is Caitlyn?" I asked Nate, seeing as he was still awkwardly standing. His face was turning pinker, and he started wringing his hands.

"She's our TPA from L.A." Nate said, leaving it at that. My mom told me that much. I almost laughed at how geeky he sounded. Almost being the keyword.

"Your girlfriend?" I asked, as Nate blushed even more. He tilted his head down towards the floor, his floppy curls covering his embarrassment.

"No," Nate finally squeaked. I laughed. Sierra walked into my room, from watching some movie with Gabe and Jason.

"What did you do to him?" Sierra asked, looking at Nate's red face. I shook my head.

"We're getting another visitor in Hotel Torres, and Nate likes her," I said, rolling my eyes for the first part and almost singing the last part. Sierra and I shared a glance, one glance, and we had a plan.

"I do not," Nate tried to deny everything, but his face just gave it away. Who blushes that much for someone they didn't like?

"Nate and Caitlyn sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G," Sierra and I sang the little kids tune. Nate walked right out of my room. Sierra and I were in a small laugh fit, and Shane walked in. Denise was standing in the doorway. Oops. Whatever it was, I didn't do it. Shane cleared his throat. Sierra and I got control of ourselves.

"Uhm…I'm sorry for cutting your finger," Shane said, then he looked back at his mom and continued, "And, throwing the roll at you."

"It's okay," I said, almost making it into a question. Shane went to escape my room. Denise blocked the way out.

"No, no. You need to hug," Denise said, pushing Shane back towards me. I felt a little bit of blood surge to my face. Sierra elbowed me.

"In my defense, I had enough contact with Shane for one day. He tackled me," I said, shrugging my shoulders. The thought of being in his arms was repulsive, and exciting all at the same time. I needed to get a grip.

"Shane," Denise said, in that motherly scolding tone. He lowered his head.

"She stole my phone, and ran off with it," Shane said, as Denise shot her hard look at me. I looked at my hands. Oh-so fascinating hands.

"You two need to acting nice to each other, or actions will be taken," Denise said, as I saw her formulating a plan. Now, when I bothered Shane, I would be bothering Denise and my mom. This could get very interesting, very fast.

"You play?" Shane said, picking up my guitar. I looked down as soon as I saw what he was referring to.

"What's the deal with Nate and Caitlyn?" I asked, getting off the topic of my guitar. Sierra scooted closer towards me as Shane put my guitar back, and sat on the edge of my bed.

"Pretty much they like each, but neither one will admit it," Shane said, summing up the entire story in a sentence. Sierra looked at me, then Shane.

"Sounds like two people I know," Sierra said, as Shane gave her a questioning look, "I mean, I know two people who are in the same situation."

"The world will be better when they just admit it," Shane said, ignoring Sierra's cryptic messages, "I mean, I won't have to deal with Nate acting all antsy around her."

"Sierra and I are working on a plan to get them together," I said, referring back to when Sierra and I shared a glance after seeing the embarrassed, red Nate.

"Sounds good," Shane said, before looking back at my guitar, "So, you play?"

"Does she ever," Sierra said, as I rolled my eyes, and hit her with my pillow. She squealed in defense.

"How much do you know?" Shane asked, as he went to get my guitar. He then passed it to me. I took it into my hands. I hadn't played in like a month.

"She knows whatever she could teach herself," Sierra said for me. I played the scale, getting my fingers used to stretching over the frets.

"Oh, hey," Jason said, nearly running into my room. He stopped when he realized I was playing. It was just a scale, but he stopped.

"Hey Jase," Sierra said, smiling. I was so going to torment her for this. Smiling at Jason. Oh la la. It wasn't much, but it should be enough for annoying me about Shane.

"Hey," Jason said, smiling back at her, seeming to forget why he wandered in here in the first place. Shane made an annoyed face.

"Jason?" Shane asked, snapping Jason out of his reverie. He looked at ceiling and started spacing from there. I was plucking random chords.

"Oh yea. After Gabe goes to sleep, Nate ordered us downstairs to meet Caitlyn, and for a pillow fight," Jason said, as he started walking out of my room, "Bring your own pillows."

"Meeting Nate's lover, and the ultimate sleepover battle," Sierra said, putting the plans into her own puzzling words. She was just on a roll with making thing complicated today.

"It's on Torres," Shane said, leaving my room, but not turning his back to me. I giggled, as Sierra closed the door after he left.

"You and him, so obvious," Sierra said, smiling. I felt a little blush rise up in my cheeks, but then I remembered when Jason walked in.

"Well, then you and Jason," I non-chalantly said, as her face lit up. Yup. That was so obvious.

**Yay for pillow fights, and Caitlyn. Leave any comments, suggestions, remarks in a review.**


	7. Ow, Pillow Fight

**Not exactly a lot to say. But, I adore all of the reviews. And, sorry for the randomness in the chapter…I wrote it at like three different times.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

"Hey," I said, taking in Caitlyn. She was pretty, with butterscotch ringlets. She had sort of a tomboy stole, but it worked for her.

"Alright," Nate said, touching the small of Caitlyn's back so precariously, "That's Sierra and Caitlyn."

"Hi," Caitlyn said, half-waving at us. She looked as if she was trying to remember who was who. I smiled, trying to be friendly. There was a bit of tension.

"And, I'm Shane," Shane said, putting himself as the star of the attention. I rolled my eyes, and tossed a couch pillow at him. It hit his face. Caitlyn giggled.

"You deserved it," Caitlyn said. I was going to like her. Shane looked a bit infuriated. He ran towards me, as I shrieked. He tackled me onto the couch.

"Shane," I protested, as I squirmed. I could hear Caitlyn and Sierra whispering about flirting. I rolled my eyes at that.

"Sorry. I'm going to squish you like a bug," Shane said, as he put all of his weight on me. Oh no. I was going to die. But, his manners struck me first.

"Shane knows his manners," I said in a very sarcastic voice. Shane stood up, looking miffed. And, he swooped me up, and threw me over his shoulder. I shrieked, again.

"Really, Shane?" Caitlyn asked. I started hitting his back.

"Let me go Shane," I said, still pounding on his back. I wanted to be freed from this; all I could see was his boxers, since his pants ride low.

"Alright," Shane said, as he let me slide farther down. I desperately grabbed onto his hips, so I didn't slide to my head.

"Shane, put her on her feet," Nate said, putting his hand on Shane's shoulder. Shane grumbled, and dropped me on the couch, head first.

"It's on Torres," Shane said, squinting his eyes at me. I sighed. It was always on between me and him. Shane looked toward Nate before continuing, "You too."

"Bring it," I said, effortlessly swiping a pillow from the couch, and smacking Shane's body with it.

---

Within fifteen minutes, Jason had grown bored of the pillow fight. Sierra had gone with him to eat some ice cream in the kitchen. Nate and Caitlyn were acting all couple-y. And, it was awkward. I mean, everyone had their perfect little almost, going to be relationship. I had no one. It made me feel pathetic. And, here I was, in my very own living room, feeling like a complete outcast.

"Nate!" Caitlyn shouted, using Nate as a human shield against Shane. I hit Shane in the back of the head with a pillow. It was just second nature at this point. I stood up, as Shane turned to me. Nate and Caitlyn were having a nice little conversation.

"You really didn't want to do that," Shane said, obviously trying to sound scary. I laughed. He charged at me, beating me his pillow. I smacked him back sometimes, but most of the time it was him abusing me.

"Shane, stop," I said, laughing. I mean, I could hear him laughing too. I tried to back away from him, landing on the sofa. I pushed myself over the edge of the sofa, landing on the floor in a disgruntled heap. I had a moment to regroup before he would jump over the edge.

Too late.

He landed right in front of me, shaking the lamp on the end table. I curled into a little ball, as hair covered my view. Shane occasionally hit me the pillow, as if he wanted to make me suffer. I wasn't laughing, anymore. Until, someone hit Shane. He was knocked off balance. He ended up landing knee first on my thigh.

"OW!" I cried out, feeling the pain surge to my leg. I pushed Shane off of me, as fast as I could, as I pulled my knee up to my chest. I rubbed where Shane had landed with one hand, as the other removed the hair from my face.

Nate was towering over me, pillow in his hand, looking a little guilty. Caitlyn was standing close to his side, with her hand on his lower back. I tried to smile, but my leg hurt too much. Sierra and Jason quickly came in the room with matching ice cream mustaches. Shane was sitting next to me, looking like he didn't know what to do.

"I'll get ice," Sierra said, going back in the kitchen, as Jason followed her. I could feel the tears falling over the brim of my eyes. Shane immediately scooted closer. Then, he wrapped his arms around me, as Nate and Caitlyn joined us on the floor. I buried my head into Shane's shoulder. I didn't like to cry, let alone to be seen crying. Sierra pressed a bag of ice to my leg. I shivered.

"I'm sorry," Nate mumbled, as I tried to slow the tears and cool sensation taking over my body, "I didn't think he would fall."

"It's okay," I said into Shane's shoulder. I don't think anyone could hear me, since I could barely hear myself. Shane held me tighter, and rubbed my arm.

"I'm sorry I fell on you," Shane said, as his chest lightly shook. I let out a half-laugh.

"I'm sorry you're shirt is all wet," I said, as I slowly moved away from Shane's shoulder. I sniffled, as Shane didn't let me go.

"Is your leg going to be okay?" Caitlyn asked, as I saw Nate's shameful face. I leaned over, and rubbed Nate's knee in a friendly-comforting way.

"I'm sure it will," I said, as I removed the ice, and rubbed where I had been landed on, and then put the bag of ice back on, "Maybe a bruise."

"Good," Nate said, sounding very relieved. I smiled.

"Alright, so truth or dare?" Sierra asked, as we all looked at each other's reactions. I mean, we were already in a circle, and we all looked relatively comfortable. It was perfectly fine.

"Noses," Caitlyn said, as we all touched our noses, Sierra being the last one. She didn't quite understand the concept of this, as everyone else did.

"Hm. Jason, truth or dare?" Sierra asked, after being picked as the first person to go. Jason seemed to contemplate this question as if it was a huge, life-altering situation.

"Truth," Jason said, as Sierra bit her lip.

"What's your favorite color?" Sierra asked, obviously not knowing what to say.

"Lame," Shane whispered. I smacked his leg, and whispered 'Shhhh!'

"Green," Jason said, sounding particularly thrilled with his answer. He looked around the circle, before his eyes landed on Nate, "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," Nate said, without a second thought. Jason looked a bit puzzled now.

"Do you like anyone?" Jason asked, as Nate's face tinged a lovely shade of crimson. He cast his eyes downward, as I looked from him to Caitlyn.

"Yea," Nate whispered, as he looked right up at Shane, and flashed a wicked smile, "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," Shane said, as I noticed his arm was still draped over my shoulder. I bit my lip.

"Lame," I whispered to Shane, with a smile on my face. He rolled his eyes.

"Do you like anyone?" Nate asked, seeming to stare straight into Shane's soul. It was a bit creepy how hard Nate was staring at his brother.

"I do," Shane said, without a hint of embarrassment, "Mitchie, truth or dare?"

"Dare," I said, getting in his face. He wasn't going to call me lame.

"Damn Mitch," Sierra said from across the circle. I laughed. Shane shot me an impious smile. My laughter was quickly wiped away.

"I dare you to sing us an original song," Shane said, as I remember his interest in my stupid guitar upstairs.

"Truth?" I asked, hoping I could still change my selection.

"No, no. It doesn't work like that," Nate said, smiling. In that split second, I wanted to slap that smile off of his face.

"Song," Shane simply said, as I moved a little to get comfortable to sing.

"Before, I fall too fast kiss me quick, but make it last; so I can see how badly this will hurt me when you say goodbye. Keep it sweet. Keep it slow. Let the future pass, and don't let go. But, tonight I could fall too soon under this beautiful moonlight," I sang acapella. No one said a word the entire time I sang, or even after.

"Whoa," Shane said, being the first person to make a noise. I smiled. It was a good comment. Especially coming from him. It was so wonderfully perfect.

"When did you write that?" Nate asked, seeming very intrigued. I bit my lip.

"The morning before I went to your concert," I said, as I could have sworn I saw Shane's face fall. By the time, I glanced over at him; his face went back to utter shock.

"Is it a complete song?" Nate asked, as I cast my eyes towards my interlaced hands. I nodded.

"You're recording it," Caitlyn simply said. My jaw dropped.

"What?" I asked, trying to figure out how this had all happened. I mean, I didn't object, but I certainly didn't agree with it all. My emotions were all mixed up. I didn't know how to feel about everything.

"Just one," Caitlyn said, smiling at me, "It can be my first try at a recording by myself. It's nothing serious."

"Good," I said, pretending to wipe the sweat from my brow, "I'll do it."

"Awesome," Caitlyn said, sounding thrilled by my agreeing to do this. I'm glad I could make someone's day.

"My turn, right?" I asked, getting back to truth or dare. Sierra nodded. I decided to pick on Shane, "Truth or dare?"

"Tr…" Shane started to say, before I shot him a steely stare, "Dare?"

"Good boy," I said, patting his fluffy head of hair, "I dare you to sing a song that has real emotion."

"Why?" Shane asked, his eyes getting slightly larger than normal. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I'm not sure. You made me sing, so now you can sing," I simply said, as he opened his mouth, "And, I gave you something from deep inside of me, I'm sure you can figure out something to sing."

"Yeah, it's plain to see that baby, you're beautiful, and there's nothing wrong with you. It's me – I'm a freak – but, thanks for loving me…cause you're doing it perfectly. There might have been a time when I would let you slip away. I wouldn't even try, but I think you could save my life," Shane sang, as everyone was a little shocked. It was definitely different than his normal cookie cutter pop stuff.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Nate asked, as he looked purely shocked. I'm sure we all felt the same way. Shane craned his neck downward, so he didn't have to deal with us.

"Whoa," I said, imitating Shane's reaction to my song. I could see him smile through his hair. I shook his shoulder, getting him to glance at me.

"When did you write that?" Jason asked, sounding as shocked as everyone else. I looked at him, willing him to give some answers.

"I wrote it the night we started bunking here," Shane said, as a small tingle started to bubble in my stomach. It was a slightly unfamiliar feeling. But, I had a feeling, it would be sticking around.

**Hm. So, what do we all think of this? Mitchie getting butterflies. Shane has a soft side. Comments?**


	8. You Got Caught

**I love the reviews. Keep them coming!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Moving along.**

I was on the verge of sleep, when my bedroom door creaked open. I rolled over to glance at who was intruding. It was Nate. He stepped over Sierra who was on the airbed in the middle of the floor. He sat next to me, not even checking if I was awake. I was drifting to sleep, thinking about how sweet Shane was early. How unlike him he was being. How much I adored it. How this feeling needed to end.

"You can look through it now," Nate said, dropping a phone onto my body. It was Shane's phone. I sat up, and opened it. I went through his inbox, scanning the names. Seven girls, and some family.

Mikayla. Hannah. Mom. Alexis. Lilly. Jason. Fiona. Tess. Ella. Nate.

With the girls it was all very flirty banter, promising to catch up with them, making plans. Good thing I wasn't too deep into the entire Shane situation. I could pull myself out of falling for him. I had to. He was a huge flirt. I thought he changed.

"Just thought you deserved to see it," Nate half-heartedly said. I solemnly nodded, not picking my head up. I closed his phone, and put it on my nightstand.

"I'm really tired. Sorry. I'm just gonna go to bed," I said, trying to get Nate to leave. I was filled with so many emotions, and I just needed to spill them into a song.

"Okay," Nate said, as he hugged me, "Night Mitchie."

"Night Nate," I said, as I heard him walk down the stairs before I turned on my light. I fished out my music notebook from my nightstand. Once it was in my grasp, I flipped it open, and let the emotions surge out through the ink.

---

"Shane, move," I growled for the seventh time, as I nudged him away from me. They had a concert later tonight. Their first one out of the three they would be with us for.

"Stop pushing him to me," Gabe said, as Shane was flung against my side. I grunted.

"No fighting back there," My mom said over her shoulder from the passenger seat. We were in Denise's large vehicle, which normally held eight. Only Denise's car would be admitted into the backstage parking area of the arena, or something like that. So, Nate, Shane, Gabe, and I squished into the backseat.

"But, he's squishing me," I sighed, gently moving Shane away from me. I just needed a little bit of room.

"Shane," Denise snapped from her seat behind the wheel. Gabe didn't push Shane back to me, and Shane didn't move an inch towards me.

"We're all a little packed, Torres," Shane said, squinting his eyes at me.

"Oh, shut up," I requested with a sarcastic note. He rolled his eyes. I whispered, "Drama queen."

"Mom, she called me a–" Shane started to whine, as the car came to a sudden stop. She turned around in her seat, with the most vicious scowl.

"If I hear another word out of you Shane," Denise snarled, as my mom added my name into Denise's threat, "there will be no concert, and you will walk home. Capish?"

"Yes mommy," Shane whimpered as if he was a little six year old again. I slightly smiled, as my mom shot me a hard look. My smile was gone.

With that all said, Shane and I stopped our little kid bickering, as she continued moving along. We pulled into the venue, where I had gotten tickets for the previous time. I smiled, remembering how this brought back memories of remeeting my old friends.

"What happened?" Gabe said, pointing to my huge bruise. I looked over to where Shane was walking in with his brothers to rehearse.

"Your brother landed on me," I simply stated. Gabe seemed to understand or something, because he solemnly nodded and chased after his mother.

Denise led everyone, but the band in through a different door. They needed to get clothing check, then stage check, voice check, and mike check. Then, they had a bit of downtime for some food, and chilling out. Then, off to hair and dressing place. Finally, they hit the stage. It was such a mess. I mean, it was so much preparation for one simple concert.

"Come on Mitch," Sierra said, as Gabe tugged on her arm. They ran off to the stage, where Caitlyn already was making sure everything was in place. I looked at the huge auditorium. How could anyone sing up here with all those people watching them? Mind blowing.

"Alright, mike check one, two," Caitlyn shouted, as the voice was amplified into the empty seats. It sounded crazy loud, but there were no screaming fans around to drown out the mike.

Gabe was off near the drums, showing Sierra the different ones. She seemed perplexed enough by the young boy, and he looked like he knew his stuff. Caitlyn had the mike in her hand, as she walked around the stage. It got some screechy feedback. She then took out a roll of tape from her one cargo pocket, and put a small strip of it on the stage.

"Wanna check the mike, Mitchie?" Caitlyn said, snapping me out of my observer mode. She had her arm extended, and I took the mike form her hand.

"What do I do?" I asked, feeling a little foolish. I had the mike in my hands, an empty stadium, and I didn't know how to do a mike check.

"Just talk into it, or you can sing to make sure the pitches sound real," Caitlyn said, as she checked her phone. I shot her a questioning look. She looked up towards the nose bleed section, "Mike's up there. He's telling me if it's too loud, too quiet from all the way up there."

"Should I sing something?" I nearly whispered into the mike feeling a bit foolish. I didn't know what to do. The bright lights started turning on, the spotlight on me.

"Mike says he couldn't hear you," Caitlyn said, as I tried to look up to where Mike was. The spotlight was just so bright.

"Should I sing something?" I said, a little bit louder, as the imaginary audience in my head started cheering. I smiled.

"Mike says to go for it, as long as you can sing. I told him you can," Caitlyn said, as Gabe started playing a beat on the drums. It was an easy to follow beat.

"You reeled me in with your smile. You made me melt with your voice. Now, I've been gone now for awhile, just to find that I'm your seventh choice. And, I don't wanna pay the cost, but it'd be best if you get lost cause we know you'll never change," I started singing all nice and mellow, as I remembered how Shane and I got married. How he left, and didn't think twice about me. How I got obsessed with his band. All those flirty messages to those girls. Such a player.

"Don't say that you need me, and don't play these games with my mind. You better get out of my head cause you're wasting your time. And, don't say it's forever. And, don't play cause you had your shot. You better stop messing around cause you're gonna get caught," I said, my voice filling with rage. The boys walked on the stage, as I tried to give them no second thought. I was doing the mike check.

"You promised me all of your time. I guess I'm not the only one. But, see, it's my heart on the line this time. I'm your number one or I'm gone," I sang loudly as I held the mike farther away from my face. The drum beat was finally starting to keep up with my angry tone.

"Don't say that you need me, and don't play these games with my mind. You better get out of my head cause you're wasting your time. And, don't say it's forever. And, don't play cause you had your shot. You better stop messing around cause you're gonna get caught," I sang the chorus again, as I let it all out. I mean, I did feel a bit ridiculous. I was belting my heart out to an empty stadium with a few random bystanders. It wasn't even a full band. Just me, and an offbeat drum rhythm.

"And don't say that you're sorry for breaking every inch of my heart. I should have known from the start. Now, it's time to get lost," I sang in a mellow tone, as the drum continued doing whatever it pleased. Caitlyn held the boys back from taking the stage. I wasn't done expressing myself. I glanced at Nate, who looked like he understood.

"And, don't say that you need me. And, don't play these games in my mind. You better get out of my head cause you're wasting your time. And, don't say it's forever. And, don't play cause you had your shot. You better stop messing around cause you're gonna get caught," I sang the final chorus. I was done with my song. But, I added a simple normal voice, "You got caught."

I was slightly out of breath, but man did I feel good. I heard an applause from all the way up in the nose bleed section. I smiled, and took a bow in the spotlight. Suddenly, the other like five people in the arena started clapping too. It ended, as I handed the mike back to Caitlyn.

"Wow, Mitchie, bi-polar or something?" Shane said, as I passed them to go get some water. I rolled my eyes. All his fault.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I simply said, as Nate and Jason took their places on stage. But, Shane followed me to the ice chest.

"Yesterday you sang about falling for people. Today it was about telling someone to get lost," Shane simply said. I nodded, as I opened my water bottle.

"Good job Shane," I said, as I walked past him again, "Very observant."

"Wanna talk about it?" Shane softly asked, following me. I shook my head.

"No, I do not want to talk about it," I said, in a very defensive tone. He looked taken back.

"Shane!" Caitlyn yelled from the stage. Shane turned toward the stage, biting his lip.

"Go," I said, as he didn't budge an inch. I sighed, "I'll be fine."

"Okay," Shane said in a tone that was laced with disbelief and concern. He turned on his heel, and started walking to the stage.

"Shane!" Nate yelled this time. Shane threw his head back.

"I'm coming!" Shane growled under his breath. Sierra and Gabe were standing on the side of the stage, as Mr. Gray walked in. He took over from there, but Caitlyn was handling it just fine. Caitlyn was standing my Mr. Gray's side, acting like a trusty sidekick. Sierra shot me a concerned look. I mouthed later to her, as Gabe then tugged on her arm. I smiled at them two.

I finished my water bottle as I watched from the side corridor. Something in the air changed when Mr. Gray was harmonizing the boys. Shane seemed to have a steely spaced out gaze into nowhere.

**Thoughts? Sorry for the choppiness. More or less of Mitchie singing?**


	9. Mr Gray and Emotions

**I hope this is a bit more timely than my other updates. I had two snow days, so I tried to bust out some sort of chapter. Here you go!  
And, well that was a fail. I uploaded this yesterday, and had it all set to be posted. But, I guess I didn't click submit or whatever because it never actually posted. So, here we are again. Round two. Hope this works better than the first time. **

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing. I am sixteen. Not a famous writer, or owner of the Camp Rock characters.**

"It was a good concert," Caitlyn said, as the boys ran off stage. They were all sweaty and out of breath. Mr. Gray scoffed.

"It was mediocre, if that," Mr. Gray said, beating down on his boys. Caitlyn looked a little offended that her opinion was shot down.

"I thought it was pretty good," I said, boosting Caitlyn's smile. Mr. Gray turned to me, took one look at me, and turned away. Alrighty then.

"See, pretty good, isn't a good. Or, even great or fantastic," Mr. Gray said, as the three of them chugged water bottles. Shane's steely gaze into nothingness hadn't disappeared. And, he didn't look his dad in the eye all night.

"See, but no one cares about your opinion. The crowd is screaming, and everyone else liked it," Shane huffed, before storming away.

"Shane," Denise cautiously said, before taking a few steps to her disappearing son. She looked towards me. I pretended not to catch her glaze. "Mitchie?"

I looked up at her unwillingly. I bit my lip.

"You're the only one he listens to," Denise stated the obvious. I sighed.

"I'm on it," I said, walking towards where Shane disappeared to. I felt like I was on a mission.

"Don't forget to tell him he was pitchy, and I'm sure his dancing could have been better," Mr. Gray said. I stopped in my tracks, and turned back towards everyone. Mr. Gray stared at me, before adding in a sarcastic tone, "Because he only listens to you."

"Maybe he would listen to you too, if you weren't such an ass to him," I snapped, before I walked to where Shane wandered. Shane was a flirt, but he didn't deserve to be belittled by his dad.

"Thanks," Shane whispered when I got near him. He was sitting on the floor with his long legs sprawled out in front on him. I slid down the wall until I was sitting next to him.

"What's his problem anyway?" I inquired. Shane looked like he was finally focused for the first time since he had gotten out of the car. He looked like a human.

"Not now," Shane pleaded with me. I nodded. We sat there for a moment, in complete silence, just sitting there on the floor of a back hallway in the arena; it felt totally natural.

"Nate," I heard Caitlyn squeal, and a whole bunch of laughter. We both looked toward the end of the hallway.

"Can't they get together already?" Shane asked, as he dragged his knees up to his chest. I smiled. Nate was tickling Caitlyn, who was obviously loving it. I looked back towards Shane, "It's even worse when we're in the bus."

"How?" I asked. It was still the same people, being together twenty-four seven. Shane clasped his hands together.

"It's such a small bus. It's not like there's any place to escape," Shane overdramatically said. I laughed at his antics.

"Alright, I get it," I said, smiling. Then, something clicked in my head, and I remember how I went through his phone, "By the way, how many girls do you talk to?"

Shane shot me a questioning look, before shamefully lowering his eyes to the ground, as his cheeks tinged the lightest shade of pink. Suddenly, someone was very bashful.

"I was just wondering cause your phone was full of messages from girls," I stated the obvious. Shane let his gaze meet mine.

"Don't worry about those girls. They just think that I'm theirs," Shane lamely said. I laughed at the stupidity of his comment.

"So, you flirt back? Makes total sense," I sarcastically joked. Shane rolled his eyes.

"Well, I mean, I need something to entertain me on tour," Shane playfully joked back.

"Shane?" Jason asked from where everyone else was; his voice reverberated in the nearly empty corridor. We both looked at Jason.

"Honey, you can leave now, or your father can take you home," Denise said, as Shane jumped up. He held out his hands, and helped me up. Then, the two of us ran to the car, our hands intertwined.

---

"No, no, no," I protested, as I paced around my bedroom, "You don't understand."

"You like him," Caitlyn said, as if it was as obvious as night and day, "There's nothing to understand."

"But, he's a major flirt," I whined, as I flopped onto my bed with the other two girls. I was in the middle of a crisis. Would I let my heart or head win?

"So what," Sierra said, as if Shane flirting with like ten other girls was no major obstacle to overcome.

"Get to know him better. He isn't all that much of a flirt," Caitlyn said, wincing as she said the words; it was painful for her to tell such lies.

"Horrific lies," I shortly said, as I heard someone coming down the hallway. Sure, it was like two in the morning. Us girls needed our gossip time.

"Hey," Nate said, walking into my room looking the least bit tired. Did he have a shot of espresso or something? Man, he was awake.

"Hey Nate," Caitlyn said, as Sierra and I waved. Nate sat on the corner of my bed, sort of away from us.

"What are you girls up to?" Nate asked, his eyes widening. He definitely had something to make him this chipper. I could feel my eyelids growing heavy.

"Not much," Sierra stammered. We were talking about very pressing topics to the realm of girls. We discussed crushes, and the boys. It was a nice talk. We gushed, we laughed, we squealed, we complimented, we supported, and we admitted it all.

"Oh," Nate sighed. There was a pause of awkward silence before Nate picked it back up, "So, Caity can I talk to you?"

"Uhm…sure," Caitlyn blushed, as Nate grabbed her hand leading her out of my room. She looked back over her shoulder with an over ecstatic smile. Sierra and I didn't miss a beat. The second my bedroom door closed, we dashed across my bedroom floor, hurdling the airbed.

"Alright, so I like you," Nate blurted, as Sierra and I contained our squeals. I was going to burst.

"I like you, too," Caitlyn softly admitted. I could just see her cheeks a bright red, and Nate awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Good," Nate lamely said, as Sierra and I shared a chuckle at his coyness, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yea," Caitlyn said. The moment Sierra and I heard those words, we let out a happy girl screech. I fumbled for the knob, and pulled my door open.

"Nate and Caitlyn sitting in a tree," Sierra taunted, seeing the two lovebirds in a lip lock right in front of us.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G," I teased the rest of the elementary school song. They parted, and Caitlyn instantly ducked her head into Nate's chest. He wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her head. I was going to spontaneously combust from the cuteness these two possessed.

"Girls," My mom exasperatedly said, poking her head out from her bedroom. The three of us retreated to the bedroom; Nate went back downstairs.

"Sorry mom," I whispered to her before silently shutting my door behind us. Caitlyn looked beyond flustered.

"I can't believe it," Caitlyn breathed, with this dorky smile on her face that only comes from being ridiculously in love with someone. Sierra and I hugged her, as we all silently squealed and jumped around. Our silly girl antics.

**Alright, so one couple down. Did you like it? I know that I enjoyed writing it. It made me so happy to have them get together.**

**PS. I can see a lot of people are reading this story, but I only get like four reviews. What is this? I take anonymous reviews, by the way. Please try to review some, so I have some kind of inspiration to write with. Thank you.**


	10. A Fake Date?

**Thank you guys for all of the reviews. In return, I have a cute chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I wished for the rights to Camp Rock at 11:11. Wonder if it'll come true?**

"Hey girls," Denise said as the three of us trotted down the stairs around noon. It was a long night. We needed our beauty sleep. I watched as Caitlyn and Nate looked each other in the eye, and both looked away smiling.

"What are we doing today?" Gabe said, as he bounced from the living room and onto Sierra's back. She laughed as she piggy-backed him into the kitchen. Caitlyn grabbed a box of Cheerios from the counter, and I grabbed the milk from the fridge. My mom placed three bowls onto the table for us.

"Well, honey, I'm not sure," Denise said, ruffling his hair. I poured some Cheerios into my bowl, and splashed some milk on top. I grabbed the sugar from the counter, and sprinkled some sugar on top. Denise handed over three spoons for our late breakfast.

"Can I go and visit daddy?" Gabe asked, looking up at his mom. I hear Shane groan from the other room. I rolled my eyes. I continued spooning the food into my mouth.

"Sure, sweetie," Denise said, sounding a bit precautious to the whole idea. Shane would march in here complaining in three, two –

"I'm not going," Shane said, walking into the kitchen, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked very pissed off. Sierra nudged me from across the table.

"Our own soap opera in front of our eyes," Sierra whispered to us. I forced myself to smile at her comment. I felt bad for the kid. His dad was an ass.

"Shane, I'm sure he would love to see you," Denise said, putting the milk back in the fridge. My mom handled the box of Cheerios. Everything went so smoothly in the daily routine.

"I don't think so," Shane said, rolling his eyes. I ended up scraping the edge of my bowl of milk. I tilted the bowl, so the sugary milk ran into my mouth.

"He's hard on us, but he still loves us," Jason pointed out, as he wrapped an arm around Shane's shoulder. Shane shot him a steely glare, and Jason removed his arm from Shane.

"Well, I want to see him," Nate inserted his point of view in the entire situation. I grabbed mine and Caitlyn's bowl, since we were both done with our breakfast. I placed them in the sink.

"I could use some free time to talk to him about improving the show," Caitlyn said. I could feel the anger rising in Shane. I didn't move from my position at the sink, staring out the window, but I could still feel the eyes on me.

"Something tells me that he wouldn't like to see me; I did call him an ass yesterday," I said, biting my lip as I turned around. Sierra put her empty bowl in the sink, along with the other dirty dished from breakfast.

"Don't look at me. I promised my mom I would come home once during the week. I'll skip out on the awkwardness. Sorry," Sierra said, as everyone moved their glanced to her. She played with a few curls.

"I have an idea," Jason proclaimed, with a smile that just ringed genius, "Shane can drop us off at dad's hotel room, and then excuse himself for a date with Mitchie… since they both don't want to see him."

"That's brilliant Jason!" Caitlyn exclaimed, as she hugged Jason. I looked down at the floor. When I finally did glance up from between my bangs, I saw my mom's knowing smile. I bit my lip.

"Told you," Jason boasted, with a satisfactory smile. Denise quickly looked from me to Shane. I followed her passing glance to Shane, who looked equally bashful. Then, Denise looked at my mom, and they shared a motherly all-knowing smile.

"Fine, fine," Shane said, waving his hand at the plan, "As long as I don't have to see him."

"Why doesn't Shane wanna see daddy?" Gabe asked his mom. Caitlyn, Nate, and Jason cleared the room to get ready.

"Because he would rather spend his day with Mitchie," Denise said, getting down to her sons' level. They both glanced up at Shane, and then over to me. Gabe leaned towards his mom, and went to whisper a secret in her ear. Shane left the kitchen, his arms still crossed over his chest.

"I think he likes her," Gabe unsuccessfully whispered into Denise's ear. I grabbed Sierra's arm, and tugged her out of the room with me.

"I think she likes him, too," Denise whispered back to her son, before I was out of earshot. Was it that obvious that I liked him? Was it?

---

"I'm not going in," Shane proclaimed from the driver's seat as we pulled in front of the local Hilton. It didn't matter; Gabe opened his door.

"Wait up, Gabe!" Jason yelled, pushing open the passenger seat door. He chased after his younger brother. Caitlyn and Nate scooted out the back seat. I moved into the passenger seat.

"Have fun on your date," Caitlyn said, throwing a wink in my direction, before closing the back door. I rolled my eyes. I quickly wondered if the seat would engulf me from the embarrassment.

Caitlyn and Nate walked into the hotel holding hands, right behind Jason who was carrying Gabe over his shoulder. Shane put the car into drive, and rolled out the Hilton driveway. Instead of making a left back towards the highway, he made a right.

"Where are we going?" I asked, as Shane effortlessly drove down the nearly empty street. What could possibly be down this road?

"I'm not entirely sure," Shane simply said, shrugging his shoulders. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, please don't get too lost," I jokingly pleaded, "Or crash."

"I only ran three stop lights," Shane said, without a trace of sarcasm. I turned to him with shock. I was definitely going to die. I should have told Sierra and my mom how much I love them.

"I'm too young to die," I whined, as Shane stopped at a red light. I wiped my brow for overdramatic effect. Shane looked at me.

"See, I can stop," Shane said, referring to the car stopped at a red light. I briefly applauded his accomplishment. He rolled his eyes, "I have never ran a single red light, or gotten a ticket. You're not going to die."

I didn't say a word. I just stared at Shane as the tint from his face switched from red to green. He didn't move an inch.

"Trust me?" Shane asked, as a car behind us honked. We both looked briefly behind us through the rear window. We both turned our attention to each other. I shortly nodded, not really knowing that I was getting myself into.

With so many little words said, Shane stomped on the gas, halting the honking from behind us. He sped down the empty boulevard. I clutched onto the arm rest next to me. The thoughts of crashing popped back into my head. I started replaying scenes from when I was a kid. Those happy, happy moments. The ups of my life continued flashing until this very moment. I saw Shane shortly glance at the clock. He hooked a sharp right into a nearly empty parking lot.

"Shane," I screeched as Shane slightly slowed down before turning into a parking spot. He took the keys out, and looked at the clock one more time. I could barely breathe. He wanted me dead. Shane opened his door, and I started to follow him.

"No, no," Shane said, I let go of the door handle. I sagged back into the seat. Shane closed his door, and walked around the car. He opened my door, and held out his hand, "If I'm going on a date with you, I'm going to do it right."

Such simple words made me blush. Our fingers intertwined as we walked into the theater. It was a small theater, held maybe two small screens. It was perfect for a popstar that didn't want paparazzi all over him. He held the door open, and let go of my hand as I walked through. The sudden chill of my hand being alone shocked me.

"Two for _Dear John_," Shane said to the ticket seller. I nearly bursted right then and there. I linked my arm on his, and squeezed it tight. He handed me a ticket, and we walked over to the concession stand. I was looking at the different candies, and he swooped down, "I saw the book on your bed. Decided why not."

"I love it," I said, still linking arms with him. He ordered a large popcorn, and soda. Guess we would be sharing, not that I exactly minded. He grabbed the soda, and unlooped his arm with mine as he grabbed a straw. I took the popcorn container.

We walked into the theater, if you can even call it that. It was one of the two screens in the building. It held maybe a hundred people, tops. It was relatively empty, except for a small group of teenage girls in the corner, and an elderly couple sitting smack dab in the middle. I followed Shane up to the top row, opposite corner of the girls. He placed the soda in the cup holder, and I handed him the popcorn. I took a sip of the soda, Mountain Dew.

"To fake dates," Shane said, holding up the popcorn container. I toasted with the soda container. I placed it back in its holder, as the previews for new movies ended.

_And now your feature film…_

---

"It was amazing!" I gushed as Shane and I walked from the small room. We kept our distance from the teenage girls, imagine if one of them was a Connect 3 fanatic, was Shane's reasoning. Either way, we were the last to leave the theater. My eyes were pretty much rubbed raw.

"I don't get how you cried," Shane simply shrugged. I threw the empty popcorn container away, and turned to Shane. I pushed my hands against his chest.

"Were you not watching the same movie," I exasperatedly said, balling my hands into little fists. Shane pushed my nonthreatening fists away from me, and put them down at my sides.

"I was," Shane said, as I just blinked, "But, I didn't find it that emotional."

"Honey, he's a man. He doesn't think anything is emotional," The old woman from the theater said. She was standing by the men's bathroom door. She looked like a sweet old woman, "Either way, he sat through the movie with you, and I'm guessing he let you cry on his shoulder. That was emotional enough for him. They save the emotions for people they care about…not movies."

I looked to the floor, suddenly feeling very shy. I could feel the blush rise up from my chest. I glanced up at the elderly lady, "I think you're right. Thanks."

"Anytime, sweetie," The woman said, as she gingerly smiled at me, "Now, you two lovebirds run along now."

"Come on, Mitchie," Shane said, pushing the small of my back along towards the door. He opened the door for me. He moved his hand around my waist as we walked to the car. Then, he opened the door for me. When he got in his door, and the key was in the ignition, he decided to bring up, "She called me a man."

I simply rolled my eyes at him, as he put the car into reverse. We both buckled up. I slipped my phone from my pocket. I had a text from Nate. I opened my phone.

"Uhm, Nate says, that they need to be picked up right now, well half an hour ago, and he didn't say why," I read the message, as Shane pressed harder on the gas pedal.

**Mitchie and Shane hit the movies, **_**Dear John**_**, to be specific. Did anyone see it? How did you think it was? Also, did this chapter make you aw?**


	11. Unicorn and Hearts

**I loved your reviews! They kept me going.**

**Disclaimer: I keep hoping and dreaming that I'll get the rights to Camp Rock. So far it's not going so well.**

The ride home was done in complete silence. The only noise was the soft blare of the radio, and the air conditioning. Not a single word was said the entire twenty minute journey. The awkwardness could have been sliced with a knife, it was that palpable. Shane pulled the car into the driveway as it approached dinnertime. Everyone got out of the car, in complete silence, huge shocker there.

"What happened?" I whispered in Nate's ear before he could escape into the house. Gabe happily walked into the house, with Jason close behind. Caitlyn didn't let go of Nate's hand, who was anchored next to me. Shane was equally curious.

"Well, pretty much, he played with Gabe a bit, talked some show with Caitlyn, asked where you and that girl were, ran some new chords and dance moves by Jason and I, then claimed to have business," Nate quickly summed up. I felt Shane tense up next to me. Of course, that girl wasn't too thrilled with his entire thing; he's such an ass.

"What kind of business?" I innocently asked, as Shane completely stood rigid, "All of his business was right there."

"I don't know," Nate shrugged, as Shane took three steps forward and wailed a soccer ball down the yard. He was seething anger. He stormed in the house, and slammed the door. I could already hear my mom and his freaking out on him.

"Great. Awkward third wheel," I mumbled, as Caitlyn laughed and Nate pulled me under his arm. I let out a breath.

"Best friend that's a girl," Nate said looking at me, before he turned his head towards Caitlyn, "Girlfriend."

"And, that can work," Caitlyn said, as she curled into Nate's body.

"Of course it can," I said, excusing myself inside. It could work…when they weren't cuddling, or kissing. I glanced over my shoulder. Both of which they were doing now.

"Shane," I heard Denise growl from the kitchen. I could already hear Shane seething. I walked into the kitchen, as he was angrily pacing; his hands were balled up in the tightest fists.

"Come for a walk," I said, grabbing Shane's wrist. He pulled it out of my grip. I stepped in front of him, and grabbed his wrist again. If looks could kill, I'd be dead. I gave him an equally steely glare, "Walk, now."

"Thank you," Denise whispered once I pushed Shane out of the kitchen. I smiled back at her, as I made sure he made it out without punching a wall. I softly closed the door behind us.

Shane stomped onto the sidewalk, and headed towards Sierra's house. I quickly followed behind his angry, large stride. Nate and Caitlyn were lying in the grass, staring up at the slky. I stole a look up towards the blueness, and saw a bunch of white fluffy clouds. I got preoccupied deciding whether that cloud was a unicorn or a teddy bear. I decided on it being a unicorn before turning around. Shane was well down four houses. I ran to catch up with him.

"I can walk by myself," Shane forcefully said, as I pounded the pavement coming next to him. I closed my eyes, and remember to breathe. I didn't say anything back. He didn't need to get more fired up that he already was. His pace slowed a bit as we came to the entrance of the park we practically lived at. He turned, and took off sprinting.

I started to run after him, trying to keep up, so I didn't lose him. God knows, Denise would be furious if I showed up back home without her son. I slowed down knowing exactly where he was going. I let him run it off, as I slowly walked off the wandering concrete path. I walked through the thicket, staying on a thin dirt trail.

"Follow me," Nate said, running as fast as his little five year old legs could take him. His two brothers and I did as we were told.

"We're gonna get lost," I cried, clinging to Shane. The forest was so large, the trees never ended, and I was just told the story of Hansel and Gretel.

"No. Me and Jase know where we're going," Nate said, looking back at me. I nodded at him, and tried to trust them, "Daddy showed us this place last week."

"We'll be fine," Shane said, wrapping his hand around mine. Even then I knew when butterflies exploded in your stomach, and your face turned the brightest shade of red… you were in love.

"We're lost, aren't we?" I asked, as Nate and Jason led us around circles in the forest. Shane and I wordlessly followed.

"Nahhh," Nate said over his shoulder. I didn't believe him.

"You're lying," I accused. We were so lost. But, my mind differed, his pants aren't on fire.

"No, it's right –" Jason said, before getting cut off by me.

"It's beautiful," I shrieked, shaking Shane's hand from mine as I ran towards the glimmering blue lake. I ripped my jelly sandals from my feet, and discarded them in the grass. I waded into the cool water.

"Mitchie, stop it," Shane said, walking towards me. Genuine concern rang out from his voice, "You're gonna drown."

"No, I'm not," I said, putting my hands on my hips. I pursed my lips. I had learned how to swim the previous summer in camp.

"Just come back here," Shane pleaded as Jason removed his shoes and socks. Shane started to untie his shoes.

"No. I can swim," I said, as I dove into the water. I started swimming out to the middle of the lake. When, I surfaced, Shane was nowhere to be found. I let my feet dangle. I could still reach the bottom of the lake if I stood on my very tippy toes.

"You coming in Nate?" Jason asked from where I was standing moments ago. Suddenly, I realized that I didn't have on my bathing suit. Shane made me do ridiculous things.

"I can't swim," Nate sheepishly said. He was a year younger than me, so it only made sense. But, he really should have learned. I learned when I was his age.

"It's not hard," I said, as something smacked into my body. It threw me back a bit, at least to the point where I couldn't reach the bottom anymore.

I treaded water, when something wrapped its small arms around my waist. I squirmed a bit, trying to get out of whatever sea monster wanted me for lunch. I even tried kicking. I wasn't going to be a sea monster's lunch. Maybe, I just should have told Shane that I couldn't swim. I was too young to die.

"Mitchie," Shane whispered in my ear. I stopped moving. Jason was leading Nate into the super shallow end of the water.

"Race you back in," I said, as I used Shane's body to kick off of. I started swimming as fast as I could. My little doggy paddle could only get me so far. Shane had more experience; he knew more than the doggy paddle.

"I win," Shane said, his hair dripping wet. He looked like he just took a shower fully clothed. I giggled.

"Now, I'm all wet," I said, wringing out my hair. It wasn't like I could just grab a towel, and some dry clothes. Shane took my hand, and led me over to a large rock. He looked up at the sun.

"We can lay here and dry off," Shane said, as he helped me onto the rock. Jason and Nate were wading around the water.

"I knew you'd be right there," I said, looking at Shane who was nearly too big for the rock now.

"It seemed a whole lot bigger when we were six," Shane offered. I nodded. There was not even room for me. Shane put his hand down towards me.

"Have you seen how much room you take up?" I said, as Shane feigned hurt. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, we fit before," Shane said, not moving his hand. I rolled my eyes.

"Yea, when we were six," I said, emphasizing the six part. Shane didn't say a word nor did he move. I let his hand wrap around mine. He pulled me right on top of the rock with him.

"Look, if we both sit like we did in kindergarten," Shane said, showing off his criss-cross applesauce of sitting, "We'll fit."

"Okay," I said, trying to fix myself to fit, without falling backwards into the lake water.

"Wait, turn around, and lean back," Shane said, as I tried to follow his directions. I ended up leaning against his chest, "There, perfect fit."

I didn't say a word to that. I just smiled, and melted into his body. Even after all these years, we could still fit together on the rock. I focused up towards the sky where the unicorn had been blown away. Now, a nice little turtle was in its place. Or, maybe it was a heart.

**I liked this chapter. I hope you all realized the middle was a flashback. I hope you all got it. If not, I won't attempt it again. Haha. Reviews are my favorite.**


	12. Attitude Problems

**I loved the reviews. And, sorry for the wait. I swear it is worth it. This chapter will make up for everything. I promise.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own. Does it really surprise you?**

"What did you do to him?" Denise asked me, seeing as Shane came home in a perfectly good mood. He ate dinner without a rude remark. Then, he showered, watched a bit of TV, and fell asleep on the couch around nine. I shrugged my shoulders.

"She gave him a love potion," Gabe crooned from the table in the kitchen where he was sipping hot chocolate. Denise smiled at me like my mom had earlier this morning. I blushed, and turned away from her.

"All done Gabe?" Denise asked her son, as he smiled and handed his cup over. She went over to the sink.

"Come on, Gabe. I'll give you a piggy-back ride to your room," I offered, as Denise smiled at me. Gabe jumped on my back, as Denise started to clean out the cup. I ran up the stairs, and discarded Gabe on his bed. He insisted that I didn't need to tuck him in, but I did need to get the light on the way out. I did.

I walked into my room, as Caitlyn and Sierra were gossiping on the air bed. They both stopped talking when I walked in the room, and just stared at me. They stared at me with wicked smiles on their faces. It was creeping me out. I pretended not to notice as I padded across the floor to my bed. I glanced over my shoulder. Still keeping up the creepy act. I grabbed a towel, and left my room without a glance back in their direction.

---

"So, what was the staring about earlier?" I asked Sierra, seeing as Caitlyn fell asleep on the one airbed. I was brushing my wet hair out in the mirror, so it didn't tangle as much.

"Nothing," Sierra not-so-innocently said, with a coy smile on her face. I rolled my eyes.

"Really? Cause it seemed like a whole lot of something," I said, trying to get her to tell me. It was obviously something.

"Just wondering how you made Shane so goddamn happy when he got back," Sierra quickly whispered, but I still caught every word of it. I turned around, my mouth hanging in shock.

"What scenarios did you two come up with?" I asked, not really wanting to know. But, curiosity killed that cat. She didn't want to answer. I placed my brush on my dresser, and sat down next to her on the airbed.

"Well, some were very reasonable… and some were completely out there," Sierra alluded to an actual answer. I moaned, burying my head in my hands. It didn't sound promising.

"Can I know one of each?" I asked, peeking through my fingers. She bit her lip. Wasn't looking too good.

"You sure?" Sierra half-heartedly asked. I contemplated whether I really wanted to know for a minute before slowly nodding my head.

"A bit. I want to know how crazy my friends are," I said, laughing. Then, I added in a soft tone, "And, I want to prove you wrong."

"Well, you told him your heart was his," Sierra said, silently laughing. I laughed along. My heart is confused, and all over at the moment.

"Sorry, nope," I said, provoking her to keep going. She rolled her eyes up as if she was thinking.

"Hotsteamysex," Sierra breezed through. I thought my eyes were going to bug out of my head.

"Sierra," I squealed. I was in complete shock. I let out a small chuckle. She tilted her head downward, letting her curls cover her face.

"Well, there you go. One reasonable, and one not," Sierra mumbled. I still couldn't get over the things they came up with. I could only imagine what else could have crossed their minds. But, I'm sure whatever it was, it was nothing like what really happened at the lake.

"And, which one was the reasonable one?" I questioned, seeing as how neither of those scenarios would have happened. Sierra looked at me like I had three heads. I cleared my throat, "It's just I wouldn't do either of those. Sorry."

"I didn't say they were realistic, just more reasonable," Sierra softly offered. I shook my head at her.

"You two are gross," I come to the conclusion, as I grouped Caitlyn into the entire situation, "And, I need to sleep on it."

"Fine," Sierra sighed, as she fixed her little airbed. I turned off my light, and walked across to my room. Only ten thirty and I was in bed… during the summer. Well, it was a long day. Too many emotions. I needed a nice break.

---

I woke up around three thirty needing something to drink. I rubbed my eyes, and tried to not step on anyone on the airbeds. I quietly padded down the stairs, and into the living room. I looked over at the couches where he boys were sleeping; someone was snoring. I giggled as I made my way into the kitchen. I didn't bother flicking the switch as I filled a small glass with water.

I drank my water silently, while looking at the moon and stars out the window over the sink. I gulped down the last bit, and placed my cup in the sink. I started to walk out of the kitchen, and back to bed. I walked into someone. I nearly screamed; but, the person covered my mouth. My hand fumbled for the kitchen light. I got it.

Shane.

"Dammit Shane," I mumbled, when his hand left my mouth. I stepped back into the kitchen. My eyes adjusted to the light.

"Well, sorry for needing a drink Princess Mitchie," Shane sarcastically said. He hit my shoulder as he walked past me. I huffed. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed; err, couch.

"Excuse me," I said, placing my hands on my hips. I even popped one hip out for extra attitude, "Princess?"

"Yes," Shane said as he filled a glass of water from the tap, "You walk around acting like you should get everything on a silver platter."

"It's my house. I can think that," My voice rose a bit as I tried to give him lip back. It didn't work too much.

Shane didn't say anything in response. He swallowed the entire cup of water in one huge gulp. He angrily placed his glass in the sink. Now, my cup from earlier had some company. I wasn't sure what to do. So, I tried to casually lean against the wall. He turned towards me.

"You know, I don't know what is up with you and your attitude, but you need to drop it," I said, undoubtedly sounding like a mom. I didn't care. He looked me over, and turned off the kitchen light.

"I can't just drop the attitude," Shane said, taking a few steps towards me. He sounded troubled. I suddenly wanted to take him into my arms, and tell him everything would be okay. He coughed before continuing, "Is there somewhere we can go to talk, where we won't have a chance of waking people up?"

"Sure," I said, walking past him. I turned down the hallway that led to the garage. I walked into the computer room. I turned on the light; he followed and closed the door behind us. "Better?"

"Much," He said, collapsing into my green beanie bag. I curled up in the large desk chair. I glanced at the clock; three forty seven.

"So, why can't you just drop the attitude?" I asked, getting the conversation back on track.

"Because the last person I trusted with everything I had, threw it right out the window," Shane said, his voice sounding angry. I winced. Ouch.

"What happened?" I said, my voice ringing with the utmost concern. Shane looked as if he didn't know whether to tell me or not.

"I haven't told anyone this, not even Nate or Jason. They deserve to know, but I just couldn't break them like he broke me," Shane said, sounding as if he wanted to cry. He looked too meek and alone sitting over there.

"Do you need a hug?" I asked. He nodded, so I rolled over to the corner where the bean bag was. I dropped from the chair, onto the little spot next to him. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, and squeezed tight.

"My dad is with some blonde bimbo," Shane dropped the bomb after much hesitation.

"It's gonna be okay," I whispered, remembering everything from third grade. I almost started crying right then and there. I let out a shaky breath.

"It's just I heard my mom and dad talking about…" Shane drifted off, as I rested my head on his shoulder.

"About what?" I said, biting my lip and rubbing his back. I was going to pull myself together for him. He obviously couldn't handle this on his own. I already knew what he was going to say, which was the hardest word for any kid to say.

"Getting a divorce," Shane said, continuing right where he left off. He buried his head into my shoulder. He let out a few shaky breaths before his shoulders started shaking.

"You'll make it out alive. It's not that bad," I lied. It was horrible. It was the worst feeling I'd ever been put through.

"No," Shane squeaked, and then hiccupped. He was crying. If only he knew it would be the first time of several times he would cry himself to sleep.

"Shhhh," I said, rubbing his bed head. I didn't know what else to do. My previous best friend, now frenemy / crush was crying in my arms.

"What happened to your dad?" Shane asked after a bit, and he sort of got his composure back. He said those words in the gentlest voice, but I still broke down.

I sat there, tears seeping from my eyes. Shane had just stopped crying. I could see his concerned, and panicked blurry face through the tears. He moved my hair from my face, and wiped a stray tear. Neither of us said a word; just let our actions do the talking. His thumb felt soothing on my cheek.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to –" Shane said, as I collapsed into his chest. I shook my head.

"You didn't know," I said into Shane's chest, before I lifted my head, being strong, "He left in third grade. I haven't seen him since. I try not to think about it much."

Shane didn't say a thing in response. He just sat there, looking sorry for me. He pulled me into him, rubbing my back. It was comforting. I hadn't talked about my dad since I told Sierra in third grade. I skipped Fathers Day things in school, and my mom never mentioned him. It was one of those things.

"It just hurts because he was let me down. He told me he didn't care," I said, pretty much opening the wounds in my heart. I had stopped crying, but I still had tears brimming in my eyes. Shane let me go, but kept me at arms length.

"If it means anything… I care," Shane whispered in the softest voice, before moving closer to me. His lips hit mine. Shane stole away my first kiss at nearly four in the morning.

**EEK! Was that as amazing for you as it was for me to write? Yes? I think you should tell me by clicking that green button. I mean, they kissed. Awesome, right?**


	13. Remember That I Love You

**Sorr this one is kind of short, but I needed to update. The insane amount of reviews pushed me over the edge. I am thrilled that people like it so much. And, I promise, the next chapters after this one will get better. You'll see what I mean.**

**Disclaimer: Yupp. Still don't own. So sorry.**

"Found them!" Sierra shouted, as I started to come out of my daze. I was perfectly comfortable. Someone tried to pry me and my teddy bear apart, how rude, "Mitchie."

I tried to mumble something about more sleep, as I cuddled back with my teddy bear. Wow. My teddy bear grew. I was so proud of him. More footsteps came into the room. I decided to open my eyes to the calamity. Denise and my mom were standing in the doorway, looking rather shocked, with their arms crossed over their chests. Gabe had a wicked smile on his face.

"I knew it!" Gabe exclaimed, before his mom shoved him out of the room. Sierra followed closely behind. I looked next to me. Shane.

"I cannot believe you two," Denise said, pulling Shane away from me. He was still half-asleep, and confused as ever.

"Did I fall asleep with him?" I softly asked my mom, as Shane was brought in the hallway. My mom closed the door. I could hear Shane being reprimanded. My mom sat where Shane used to be.

"Yes. And, honey, when we woke up, no one knew where you two were," My mom said, brushing my hair out of my face. I curled my head into her shoulder.

"Is she going to be pregnant?" Denise rather loudly asked. The door knob opened. Shane let himself in, and closed the door before his mom could get in. He plopped down against the door, locking his mom out.

"I'll take care of it, Denise," My mom said, as I crawled from the bean bag to where Shane was protesting. I kept a decent amount of distance between us. I heard Denise sigh.

"Okay," Denise exasperatedly walked away. Shane brushed his hand across the carpet, and hit my hand. He then moved his hand over mine, completely engulfing it. Our fingers instantly laced together in the most nonchalantly way ever.

"Alright, so what happened last night?" My mom asked, as Shane and I looked to each other. My mom looked ready to handle whatever we had to say.

"I woke up needing a drink."

"I went to bed too early."

"I don't know what you're saying when it's at the same time," My mom pointed out, as Shane rubbed his thumb against the back of my hand.

"I woke up needing something to drink," I simply said.

"And, I went to bed too early, so I just kind of woke up," Shane said, as he noticed I didn't say anything; he continued, "Someone was in the kitchen. I got scared."

"I finished my drink, and went to leave. Someone covered my mouth with their hand," I said, emphasizing how scared I was.

"Then, I got a drink. And, she had an attitude –"

" – I did n –"

" – You d –"

" – Did no –"

" – Really?" My mom interjected.

"As I was saying, she had an attitude," Shane said, throwing a joking look in my direction. I rolled my eyes.

"I told him to drop the attitude," I said, "Seeing as he had an attitude problem, all over again. Remember how we fixed that, well not so much."

"We ended up coming here, so I could explain why I had such an attitude –"

"Why do you have such a attitude?" My mom asked Shane, obviously intrigued. It seemed to be a mystery everyone wanted to know the answer to. Shane looked at me with a worried look. I gently squeezed his hand. He let out a breath before turning back to my mom.

"My parents have been talking about a…" Shane said, before his voice got all shaky. My mom instantly regretted asking, I could see it in her face. I scooted closer to Shane.

"A divorce?" My mom dropped the bomb. I softly nodded my head, as I wrapped my arms around Shane. He got a distant look in his eyes, as he copied my action.

"I told him about daddy," I softly breathed out. Shane held me tighter. I could see my mom's eyes get that distant look in her eyes. She missed him too.

"She told me it would be okay," Shane mumbled in that pre-crying groggy voice. My mom just closed her eyes, and lowered her head.

"Mommy, where is daddy?" I asked wearing the crown I had made during recess with Sierra in our third grade class. I was so excited to show everyone at home. He had been on business for the weekend, but his business never took him over the weekends.

"Come here, honey," My mom said, patting her lap. I cautiously walked across the room, and climbed onto her lap.

"Were you and him in a fight?" I innocently asked. They had been yelling a lot. And, I had heard from the playground that when mommies and daddies fight a lot they are going to break up. I was scared. I didn't want my mommy and daddy to break up.

"Mitchie, you see, sometimes people fight –" My mom said, as I cut into what she was saying.

"Like the one fight I had with Shane," I offered, my mom didn't say anything, so I continued, "He stole my crayons when I was seven. I didn't talk to him for an entire day, until he gave them back. But, then it was all better."

"Kind of like that, sweetie," My mom said, brushing the hair out of my face. I smiled at this action.

"So, when will daddy be back from business, so it can be all better?" I asked, kind of just wanting my daddy back.

"He's not," My mom croaked, as tears flowed down her face. There was a moment of utter confusion. I didn't know what to do. My mom was sitting here, crying, saying my daddy was never coming back. She was holding me tight, but I wiggled out of her grip.

"I'll fix it," I said, running off to the bathroom. Whenever I was crying, my mommy would give me a sticker that said _REMEMBER THAT I LOVE YOU_, and a kiss on the cheek. I grabbed one of the stickers, and ran back to my mom.

"What do you have?" My mom asked. She suddenly wasn't crying so hard anymore. I took the back off the sticker, revealing the stickiness. I placed it on my mom's shirt. I climbed back onto her lap, and kissed her cheek.

"What's wrong?" I asked, pressing my tiny hand against the sticker. She leaned in and placed a kiss on my forehead.

"I just love you, baby," My mom said, wrapping her arms tighter around me. Within the week, I realized my daddy was never coming back, and they kept using this foreign word _divorce_. My mom and I gave each other the_ REMEMBER THAT I LOVE YOU_ stickers each day that week, or whenever it got hard to cope. It was something special between just me and my mom, like making blueberry pancakes on Saturday mornings, or going to the park every other Sunday.

"Oh, come on Mitchie," I heard Shane whisper, though it sounded more mature than when we were seven. I could feel tears pouring down my cheeks. I opened my eyes, and took a look at the blurry world. My mom was crying as well. Shane went to wipe the tears from my face, but I moved away from him. I didn't mean to reject him, but I just couldn't fix the problem from sitting next to him. I walked out of the little computer room.

"What's wrong Mitchie?" Sierra asked, with utmost concern. I didn't stop. I kept walking to the bathroom. I rummaged through the boxed of tampons, tablets of cold medicine, extra bottles of shampoo, packages of razors, the straightener, the curling iron, and into the very back corner of the cabinet under the sink. I grabbed the stickers that I hadn't seen since I was a kid.

"What did Shane do?" Nate asked, in a defensive tone. My tears were drying. I kept walking, and closed the door behind me. I sat next to my mom on the bean bag chair. I peeled off the back of the sticker, and placed it on her pajama shirt.

"Thank you, honey," My mom said, looking up at me. I gave her a kiss on the cheek. She started to smile through her tears.

**Alright, I feel like this is kind of a recap of the last chapter, but I feel like it was kind of sweet all at the same time. What do you guys think?**


	14. Cherry and Blue Raspberry

**Okay. I'm trying something new here since coolkitten12 and lauren seem to get confused with the entire flashback thing. It's going to be italized this time. Let's see how this works.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own a thing.**

Things always get more complicated when two people who are best friends get crushes on each other; it gets even more complicated when they hated each other for a short period of time. I mean, this could be something straight out of a movie, minus the fact that we hadn't declared our love for each. Man, that would be embarrassing.

"Sweetie, look what Denise and I found in the attic," My mom said, waving a VHS tape in my face. I tried to read that title that was obviously written in White Out.

"Hold on," I said, getting off my bed, and holding the tape steady. I took one look at the title, "Burn it. Now."

My mom just laughed before walking right out of my room. How rude. I just wanted her to adhere to one simple request. I'm sure she wouldn't mind popping that thing into the fireplace. I could hear her walking down the stairs. I dashed after her.

"Where's the fire?" Sierra asked from Gabe's room. Her and Jason were playing to keep him content, and from making remarks about his older brother and I; a blush creeped onto my face as I thought about his comments.

"Please don't," I begged from the landing in the middle of the staircase. My mom was sliding the tape into the VCR. I continued down the stairs, and I heard the playmates following me. My mom pressed play on the recorder. I stopped in my tracks as the camera view swept over a green lawn.

_"And, what's happening today, honey?" I heard Denise coo from off camera. There was a shot of Shane in a little suit, looking dapper, and confident._

_"I'm marrying Mitchie," Shane confidently oozed, before leaning close to the cameraman, and whispering, "I love her, you know."_

_"Alright, well, do you have a ring?" Denise asked, as Shane dug around in his pocket. He checked the other pocket. Then, pulled out a ring pop._

_"It's cherry. Her favorite," Shane's little seven year old voice said. Suddenly, the camera whipped around with no warning._

_"You look beautiful, honey," My mom said, kissing my forehead on the screen. I was dressed in the dress I wore during my aunt's wedding; I was the flower girl._

_"Come on," Shane said, taking my little hand, as I slipped out of my mother's grip. The camera followed us down the little path that led to the pool. Nate was our only guest, as Jason stood in the alter. The camera zoomed in to where the ceremony was taking place._

_"Do you Shane Gray love Mitchie Torres?" Jason asked, wearing a suit very similar to Shane's. Shane and I were standing before him, holding hands._

_"I do," Shane seemed to squeak, which made my own mother and Denise giggled off screen._

_"Do you Mitchie Torres love Shane Gray?" Jason asked, as I bit my lip. I looked back at the camera, as I recalled looking back at my mom for reassurance; I got a thumbs up._

_"Yes," I confidently said, after getting the go from my mom. I felt pretty good about myself._

_"You're supposed to say, I do," Jason non-chalantly whispered to me. My cheeks tinged pink. I could never do anything right._

_"I do," I said, getting my confidence back. Shane had a smile that could light up a room._

_"Can we have the rings?" Jason asked, as Nate got up from his chair. Okay, so correction, we had no guests, everyone had a part in our holy matrimony. Shane and I took the ring pops that we picked out for each other, and unwrapped them._

_"I got cherry for you, since it's your favorite," Shane said, as he slipped the ring pop onto my finger._

_"And, I got you blue raspberry because you like the color blue," I said, as Shane held his hand out. I slid the blue ring pop onto his finger._

_"Now, you kiss," Jason said, as Shane and I both looked back at the camera. Then, we looked back to each other, and decided to wing it. He leaned in, and in the most innocent peck ever, his lips touched mine. Everyone started cheering, as the screen went black. The home movie was over._

"You know, I wish I could have been there too see it," Gabe sighed, as my mom made the VCR spit out the tape, "And, I knew that they were in love."

"They aren't in love, silly," Sierra tried to convince him, and everyone else otherwise. I just rolled my eyes. Something placed their hand on my lower back.

"I wanna show you something," Shane roughly whispered in my ear, leading me to the front door by the small of my back. I slipped my feet into my flip flops that were discarded at the door earlier. Shane opened the door for me, and led me outside.

"I told you, they love each other," Gabe exclaimed right before the door closed behind me. Shane got in the driver side, and I climbed in the passenger side.

"I'm not sure our moms approve of this," I simply said, as Shane put his seatbelt on, and put the key in the ignition.

"Don't worry about that they think," Shane said, throwing the car into reverse. I fumbled for my seatbelt, as we took off down the road, "Just live."

I didn't say a single word after that. Not a protest. Nor a single question. I didn't sing along with the radio. And, I tried not to look at him so much. I mean, he didn't make it easy for conversation either. He just stared ahead, not making a sound. I still wondered where he was taking me. I contemplated hostage situations, ice cream, laser tag, skydiving, movies, go-kart racing, moonlit dinner, but none of them seemed real enough for this.

"We're here," Shane said, as I was jerked out of my thoughts. Shane took the keys from the ignition, and put them in his pocket. His feet hit the asphalt, "You coming?"

We were sitting in front of his tour bus behind the arena. This is hardly what I was thinking of. Shane was standing near the door, staring back at the car with a questioning look. I unbuckled, and let myself out of the car. Shane let himself into the bus, and I ran as fast as I could in my flip flops to catch up. He did hold the door for me though.

"Why are we here?" I asked, as Shane stepped over an empty pizza box. I followed in suite.

"I told you already," Shane said, not stopping for one moment. He opened a door that led to the bedroom, "I wanted to show you something."

"Okay," I suspiciously said. Shane got down on the floor, to look under one of the bed. He extended his arm into the darkness, and wiggled it around. I sat on the bed opposite of his moving arm.

"Here it is," Shane smiled, taking a box out from the depths of the bed. He got onto the bed he was looking under. I was sitting on the opposite bed, but our knees were almost touching. The amount of space in this room was appalling. Shane held the box out for me, "Open it."

The box was a Converse sneaker box size eleven, obviously his dad's old shoe box seeing from the amount of wear on the exterior. My hands shook as I lifted the lid off. It was a box of memories. I had one very similar to it at home. I smiled, knowing that Shane was just a bit sentimental.

"You know, you can go through it," Shane softly said, holding the box out to me. I placed the lid next to me, and grabbed the box. Shane moved onto the same bed as me.

On top was a folded up piece of paper. I looked to Shane, who nodded, so I unfolded it. It was the letter they received saying that they got the record deal. I smiled, and placed it on the lid next to me. There was a worn photo of his old house, with the four of us tots out in front of it. And, another wedding photo of his parents. A newer picture of him and his brothers. Then, a VHS tape.

"What's on it?" I asked, flipping the VHS in my hands. Shane looked down, his cheeks turning the slightest shade of pink.

"The same movie we just watched," Shane said, as I smiled. I put the VHS on the pile of things I had already seen. Shane drew in a breath before I could glance back at the remainder of the items in the box, "Just a warning. The rest is worse than the tape on the embarrassment scale."

"Is this the same ring pop wrapper that was on my ring pop?" I asked, astonished that Shane would keep something like that. Shane nodded, as I clasped my hands around the wrapper.

"One more thing," Shane whispered, as I picked up the last thing in the box. A licked clean ring pop base. I looked from the VHS to the wrapper to the base of the pop, and finally to Shane. He hadn't looked up since I took out the tape.

"Did this used to be blue raspberry flavored?" I softly asked, as I started softly putting everything back in the box. Shane nodded. I was in complete shock. Bad boy Shane has a very soft, sentimental side.

"I told you it got worse," Shane softly joked. I placed the box back in his lap, with all the contents neatly back in it, and the lid securely on.

"I have a memory box in my closet," I confessed, as Shane laid back on the floor, and pushed the box back to the dark corner beneath his bed.

"Really?" Shane asked, I nodded, "What's in it?"

"Come on," I said, taking his hand, and leading him out to show him every memory that was important to me. But, my favorite memory in my box would be my ring pop wrapper and base.

**Comments? Remarks? Any feedback? Press the little green button, and I promise to get back to you. After all, my reviews are everything.**

**PS. Who liked the flashback being in italics? Who doesn't? Majority rules for how flashbacks will be in the remainder of the story. Sweet deal.**


	15. Dates and Johnny Depp

**Wow. I loved the amount of feedback from the last chapter. Fourteen reviews?! A new record for this story. I love everyone who reviewed. AND! We broke a hundred reviews. Millie79 was the hundredth review, so this chapter is for you. One more note, all flashbacks will be in italics due to popular demand. Now for the chapter. Woot.**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own anything. Cool.**

I tromped down the stair, after I finished cleaning my room. Everyone was hanging out in the living room, and I kept getting nagged to clean my room. I finally caved when my mom decided that I could clean my room, or miss Connect 3's last concert in town. Guess who jumped up, and dashed up those stairs with a Swiffer WetJet in hand? Yupp. Me.

The living room was full of my favorite people, and I noticed Sierra walking out of the kitchen. I called out her name. She stopped in her tracks.

"What are you doing tonight?" I asked her, knowing that I couldn't hang out with Caitlyn because she had a date with Nate before they went for their second concert.

"Oh," Sierra softly said, before lowering her head, and brushing some of the curls away from her face. I knew this reaction. She was embarrassed. Nate came up alongside of me.

"She's going with us," Nate said, as I tried to think of why Sierra would go with Caitlyn and Nate for dinner. She would be the awkward third wheel. She was definitely smarter than that.

"Why?" I inquired, not knowing what else to really say. Sierra looked up at me through her curls with a very coy smile. Then, she looked straight over to Nate.

"Oh no, you can tell her," Nate said, lifting both of his hands to show that he wasn't getting involved. I looked back to Sierra with a look that always got her to spill. I could see her cracking.

"Double date," Caitlyn quietly said from the couch. I looked to Shane, who definitely seemed into me. Well, I mean, he kissed me. That's about all the evidence I had. They were going on a date together. I should have seen it coming. He was using me to get closer to Sierra.

"What did I do?" Shane innocently asked, as I realized I was full on glaring at him. I had no respect for people that only used others to get what they wanted; it was downright low. I knew he was shameful, but I never knew how bad he was.

"It's with Jase," Sierra whispered from behind me. Suddenly, I felt horrible about giving Shane the stink eye. I slowly turned my head to where Jason was propped against the couch, trying to seem interested in whatever Gabe was trying to show him.

"Oh, that's so cute," I squealed, hugging Sierra. She was blushing when I let her go.

"Thanks," Sierra quietly said, as a smile lit up her entire face.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" I whispered once Nate went back to Caitlyn's side. She took my arm, and led me into the kitchen for some limited privacy.

"I wasn't sure about any feeling, and I've never had a real relationship. He's much older. He's brother of the guy you are obsessed with," Sierra quickly breezed through, but I still caught every word of it, "Mostly, I didn't want to fall if no one was going to catch me. You know?"

"That's so cute. You two are adorable together," I gushed, making her blush, before I got a bit more serious, "And, don't worry about him being older; it's not illegal. And, he will definitely catch you. I could see it in his eyes every time you come around, and even when he's just around you."

"I know," Sierra affirmed my thoughts as a small smile played out on her lips. She gave me a loose hug, and left for the living room. I slowly followed behind, watching her as she took a piece of floor next to Jason. They would definitely be cute together.

"So, why were you giving me the stink eye?" Shane asked from the couch where he was lounging. I laughed as I walked over to where he was comfortably sitting.

"You see, I thought Sierra was going on the date with you," I softly confessed as Shane let out a little chuckle. I jumped over the couch, and landed on the cushion next to him.

"You know, you're silly," Shane flirted, as I tucked a loose lock of hair behind my ear, and sighed loudly.

"So, they're double dating, and I'm stuck here," I jokingly complained to Shane.

"I wouldn't be protesting just yet," Shane said, as I shot him a questioning look. I knew the reason.

"Why?" I asked; time to play coy. I put on my most innocent face, complete with the small pouty lips.

"Because you're stuck here with me," Shane said, making it sound as if I had just won the lottery. I mean, the butterflies kind of made it seem like I did.

"Well, I guess that's fine," I softly said, acting all disappointed. A look of utter shock crossed over his face. I should win a Grammy for this scene.

"Just fine?" Shane asked, shifting closer to me. It took all I had to stay where I was, and not pull into him.

"No. It's horrible," I faked confessed, as my stomach started doing flips and flops.

"Are you sure?" Shane said his face literally just an inch from mine. I bit my lower lip, and smiled.

"I'm sure," I confidently said. With those final words from my mouth, Shane gently brushed his lips against mine, and pulled away leaving me wanting so much more.

"One last time, are you sure being with me is horrible?" Shane asked, as I could just almost feel his lips move against mine as he spoke.

"No, it wouldn't," I spoke the truth before craning my neck to capture Shane's lips.

---

"Bye, Shane, Mitch," Nate said, closing the door as the house was finally all mine. Well, I had to share it with Shane. But, other than that…all mine. My mom and Denise took Gabe shopping for some new toy he just had to have. I'm not sure.

"So, what are we going to do for the next like two hours?" Shane asked, sitting pretentiously on the sofa.

"I'm not sure," I said. Originally I was thrilled with being all alone with Shane, so we could just hang out. You know? And, then suddenly, we had nothing to do.

"Up for a movie?" Shane asked, eyeing the DVD tower next to the TV. I smiled.

"Wanna watch my favorite movie ever?" I asked, scanning the titles on the spines. Found it.

"Of course," Shane said from the couch. I grabbed the DVD from the shelf.

"I'll go make some popcorn. Put this in?" I gave direction. I needed a moment to myself to get my thoughts back together. He was just too damn cute.

"Johnny Depp?" Shane asked, as I knew he was looking over the DVD case. I grabbed a bag of popcorn from the cupboard, and opened the microwave door.

"Yes," I replied, for a split second thinking about Shane was jealous, "He's sort of hot. I mean, for an older guy."

"Oh," Shane muttered, as I started the microwave, and the popcorn bag started spinning on the microwave plate. I poked my head into the living room where Shane was fast-forwarding to the actual movie.

"Jealous?" I teased, as Shane turned around to face me. I had this little smirk on my face.

"Well, do you know anyone else who's hot?" Shane asked, as he fished for compliments. I winked at him as the microwave started to beep at me. I opened the popcorn bag, and dumped the contents into a silver bowl. I placed the bowl on the end table, and flopped on the couch.

"And, to answer your question, I do," I said, as Shane stopped fast-forwarding. In fact, the very last preview was frozen in place. Shane sauntered over to the couch, but sat near the other end.

"Who?" Shane non-chalantly asked. The butterflies started to act up again in my stomach.

"Just this stuck-up jerk with an attitude problem, who really has an unknown soft side," I ambiguously described Shane, "And, I'm really into him."

"You know, he sounds like a pompous ass," Shane said, chuckling at the idea, "But, I think he's really into you, too."

"I think so, too," I said as the conversation kind of ended. Not that I minded. I grabbed the remote and pressed play.

"I don't bite," Shane feigned hurt. I was sitting almost an entire cushion away, but it kind of did seem like miles. I scooted over, so I was under Shane's arm. I was cozy comfy with the bowl of popcorn in my lap.

_And now to our feature presentation… Benny & Joon._

**Wow. I'm sorry about this chapter. It's so choppy, and really not thought out. I just wanted to establish the entire Sierra / Jason thing, and get this out there because you guys are the best reviewers ever. The rest of the chapter I completely winged. So, honestly, was this chapter okay?**

**PS. Anyone ever seen Benny and Joon? I love it. I definitely recommend it.**


	16. Fly Away With Me

**Well, I definitely jinxed the amount of reviews by getting so excited over them on the last chapter. Oops. Oh well. I'm hoping for at least five reviews for this one. I think I can do it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. But, thanks for caring.**

"We wanted to try a new song out for you guys," Nate screamed into the microphone at the end of their concert. Nate started playing some chords to get them situated into the song.

"And, it's going out to someone very special," Shane yelled into the mike, as Jason started playing the piano. Caitlyn nudged me about this song going out to 'someone special.'

"It's for you," Gabe matter-of-factly stated from next to me. I ruffled his hair.

"How do you know that?" I simply asked, wondering where this kid was getting all of his crazy notions from. He blankly looked up at me, as if it was the most obvious answer. If said it was because he loved me…

"Because he talks about you all the time when you aren't around. And, I stole his notepad with his lyrics. I heard them working this song out, and it's the one with all the little hearts around it," Gabe said, as the fire rushed to my face. Maybe he was right about some things.

"If time was still the sun would never never find us, we could light up the sky tonight; I would see the world through your eyes, leave it all behind," Shane delicately sang into his mike as the song started getting into full swing.

"If it's you and me forever, if it's you and me right now, that'd be alright, be alright. We're chasing stars to lose our shadows; Peter Pan and Wendy turned out fine, so won't you fly with me," Nate sung along with Shane for this part.

The entire Peter Pan bit reminded me of when we were younger, and constantly wished to live in Never Land. We were just kids, and we weren't the ones interested in becoming grown ups; we wanted to stay forever young. The two of us decided that we were going to find Tinkerbell and Peter Pan, and fly away with them to be a kid forever. It was our ultimate desire.

"Now that past has come alive, and given meaning, and a reason to give all I can, to believe once again," Shane sang into the microphone. His smooth voice floated over the harmony that the piano, guitar, and drums were creating. Nate joined him for the chorus, "If it's you and me forever, if it's you and me right now, that'd be alright, be alright. We're chasing stars to lose our shadows; Peter Pan and Wendy turned out fine, so won't you fly with me."

"Maybe you were just afraid knowing you were miles away from the place where you needed to be, and that's right here with me," Nate sang solo. I could see the smile burst onto Caitlyn's face. They were so cute together.

"If it's you and me forever, if it's you and me right now, that'd be alright, be alright. We're chasing stars to lose our shadows; Peter Pan and Wendy turned out fine, so won't you fly with me," Shane sang, with Jason and Nate harmonizing in the background, as I could feel my heart racing, "So won't you fly. Fly. With me."

The drums smashed the last note, and the amphitheater went completely crazy. Shane looked over to the side of the stage where I was standing, and then turned back to the screaming fans. He looked completely beat. They stood out there for a few minutes, just basking in the glorious praise for their performance.

"Thank you!" Nate finally screamed into his microphone, as they ran off the stage, and the lights on the stage dimmed.

"You boys did well," Mr. Gray shockingly said, as the three of them grabbed water bottles and towels, "I actually liked the last song. And, your overall performance was much better than before."

"Thanks," Shane said in between his heavy breathing; he meant it for the rest of them. Mr. Gray just smiled at his sons, emoting the feeling of a proud father.

"I'll be in the room, so us four can talk about the concert," Mr. Gray said as he walked away towards the lounge. I noticed Sierra and Jason talking off to the side. I smiled. She told me about her lovely double date with Caitlyn and Nate. She was it was amazing, and she almost forgot that Caitlyn and Nate were even sitting right there.

"So, who's someone special?" I coyly asked, as Shane wrapped his arms around my waist from behind me. I smiled at this action, as he craned his head around and planted a soft kiss on my cheek.

"This really sweet girl who's going to fly away to Never Land with me," Shane said, as I bit my lip, and turned around in Shane's enclosed arms. I brought my arms up, and interlaced my hands behind head neck.

"_What do you want to be when you grow up?" Miss Alice presented such a simple question to a room of creative preschoolers._

"_A singer," I confidently said, as I held my marker as a microphone. She smiled, and continued to ask around the room. Someone said a teacher. A few kids said they wanted to be firefighters. One goody two-shoes said to be an actress. Miss Alice finally asked Shane._

"_I wanna be an astronaut," Shane said, as he counted down from three to BLAST OFF. I giggled._

_Later that day, right when his mom was picking us up to take us home. She showed us a rented VHS. Peter Pan. It was my absolute favorite movie. I smiled, and held the VHS tape all the way home. Shane and I ran inside, and put the VHS in. Once the movie ended, I decided I didn't want to be a singer anymore._

"_I don't wanna be a singer anymore. I wanna fly off to Never Land, and be one of the lost boys," I decided once the movie ended. Shane chuckled._

"_But, you're a girl," Shane stated the obvious. I put my little fists on my hips._

"_Then, I'll be a lost girl," I said with a slight attitude, "I just don't ever wanna grow up."_

"_Me either," Shane simply said. I smiled. I started formulating the perfect plan._

"_We'll find Tinkerbell and use the magic pixie dust, and fly away with Peter Pan to Never Land," I excitedly exclaimed. Shane smiled at me, and I could see that he was coming up with some crazy ideas of his own._

"_Okay. And, we can join the lost boys, and you'll be the only lost girl, and we can beat the Captain Hook," Shane said, as he jumped off the couch, and held out a pretend sword. He swatted the air a bit to show off his sword skills. I smiled._

"_And, we can fly, and we can meet the mermaids," I said, thrilled with the idea of meeting someone like Ariel. I flapped my arms like a bird to fly, and did some funky doggy paddle like the mermaids._

"_It'll be fun. Just you and me flying away to Never Land," Shane promised as he stuck out his stock pinky. I linked mine with his. It was a pinky promise, and those were never broken._

"I bet she'd be the only little lost girl," I recalled from my memory, as Shane rested his forehead against mine. We were just reminiscing, smiling at each other, perfectly content in our own little world.

"You still wanna be a singer?" Shane asked me, and I felt a little happy that he actually remembered that detail. I weighed the options. I didn't ever really, really think about my future.

"I think so," I softly said, as Shane took a mental note of this. I could see it in his face. "Do you still wanna be an astronaut?"

"No. I wanna be this," Shane quietly said, before adding even quieter, "I wanna be your boyfriend."

"What?" I asked, barely hearing him. I know what I thought I heard, but there's no way he could have said that. It was ridiculous. I wasn't going to get false hope.

"Never mind," Shane said, looking remorseful, "Forget it."

"No. You can't mumble something, and then not tell me," I pointed out, trying to show him how agitating it was. I stood up a bit, and captured his lips with mine, "Please?"

"I said that I wanna be your boyfriend," Shane said, backing his head away from mine. I got a good look at him. I didn't say anything for a beat, and instant regret passed over his face. Along with the regret came sadness and a bit of confusion, "But, you don't want to commit. Okay."

"Wait," I cried out as Shane moved away of my grip. His arms slipped off my waist, and he started to walk away. I was mentally kicking myself, "I never said that."

"You didn't have to. I could see it in your face," Shane yelled over his shoulder as he walked into where he was meeting his dad. He angrily slammed the door.

"Shit," I mumbled. Caitlyn rushed over to my side, since Sierra had taken Gabe to get something from a vending machine. She looked concerned.

"What happened?" Caitlyn asked upon seeing my shocked reaction staring at the door he disappeared behind. I told her what happened in the shortest way ever, "He'll come around."

"I hope so," I muttered, as I dissolved into Caitlyn's open arms.

**Well, it couldn't be paradise forever. Don't fret. I have it all planned out. You just need to press the green button, so I see that people care about Mitchie and Shane not being all together. Sound good?**


	17. Bad Boys and Cootie Shots

**You guys blew me out of the water with the reviews. Seriously, eighteen wonderful reviews?! And, I wanted to get a chapter up this weekend, but I had a term paper and a robotic baby. My hands were full. At least I have a chapter for you now. It can only get better from here.**

**Disclaimer: What a waste of space? You should all realize that I don't own. Duh.**

It had been two days since Shane talked to me, let alone even look at me. I was falling apart. I tip-toed around my own home because I didn't want to run into him. Nate was understanding, and hung out with me quite a bit. I ended up telling him everything that had happened between Shane and I, starting with the day they arrived here. He just kept telling me to wait it out, and that Shane would come to his senses.

I started to mindlessly check the latest gossip sites. I needed something to distract me from everything around me. The drama was too much to handle. I started to scroll through the headlines looking for something eye catching, something that my attention span would care about. And, there it was:

**SHANE GRAY, HOLLYWOOD'S BAD BOY, GETS A NEW GIRL**

The headline was accompanied with a lovely picture of us hugging before the misunderstanding about wanting to be my boyfriend. I knew I shouldn't have clicked on it. But, I did. It was too tempting. This was not the distraction I wanted, but it drew me in.

**Shane Gray snatches another innocent girl whom he is seen with backstage at his latest concert. Is she the "someone special" that he dedicated their new song to? This new girl better watch out for this serial dater. Whatever happened to Mikayla, or Hannah? We were those last week's girlfriend? This bad boy has been bouncing from girl to girl. And, he was spotted with Tess Tyler, TJ Tyler's daughter, just days before Connect Three went to their new concert scene for their next concert set. I just hope this girl realizes how bad Shane Gray is before she gets in over her head.**

The end. I was sitting there completely appalled. I suddenly remembered looking through Shane's phone with Nate. Speaking of Shane's phone, it was still sitting in my end table drawer. I took it out, and turned it on. New text messages started to fill the screen. Thirty-two new messages in like two days. All from various girls. Super cool.

"Why are you reading that crap?" Nate asked, staring at my laptop screen. I hadn't even heard him come in. Then, Nate looked down at lap where Shane's phone was currently lying, "And, why are you going through his crap."

"Thirty-two new messages in his phone in two days. All from girls," I simply said, turning the phone back off, and giving it to Nate. I wanted nothing to do with it. I wanted nothing to do with him. He was a serious manwhore, and Hollywood's bad ass. I didn't need to be associated with that.

"Ouch," Nate mumbled, before he closed my laptop on me. I was about to protest, but Nate spoke first, "You don't need to be looking at ridiculous hoaxes online. They just want the publicity. Don't listen to what they're saying."

"It's kind of hard when it all makes sense," I muttered, as Nate pulled my arm, forcing me to get out of my own bed. I groaned as my feet the hardwood flooring.

"Look. He still likes you. A lot. And, I'm sorry that I'm going to sound like Gabe here, but you are meant for each other. Now, pull your dignity off the floor, and go talk to him," Nate gave me a quick pep talk before pushing me towards my bedroom door.

"If I'm going to talk to him with some kind of dignity, then I need to change. I am not going to see him like this," I said, waving my arm up and down to show off my pajamas, "So, out."

"If you're not out here in five –" I slammed the door in Nate's face, "– I'm coming in there."

I rolled my eyes, and grabbed my gray skinny jeans. I did a little dance as I pulled them up my legs. I took off my loose pajama top, and tossed it onto the floor where my pajama pants were already lying. I rummaged through my drawers in my skinny jeans and black bra.

"Shane, you can't –" Nate frantically warned from the hallway, as my door flung open. Shane stopped in his tracks, as Nate stood behind his older brother with his eyes bugging out of his head. I quickly turned away from them, and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Sorry," Shane whispered, but I didn't hear any feet move across the floor.

"Uhm," I awkwardly said, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. My face was turning red from humiliation.

"Oh, right," Shane said, obviously embarrassed. I'm sure he felt a whole lot worse. My bedroom door closed, and I turned around. I was in solitude again. I ran across the cool wood, and locked my door.

My face was the color of a tomato, and I was all self-conscious. I grabbed the first thing my hand landed on in my shirt drawer. It was a light purple T-shirt. I slipped into it, and took a few moments to collect my thoughts. They had just seen me shirtless, not topless, but still. It was traumatizing enough for me. I paced around a bit.

"I didn't know!" I heard Shane angrily growl from the hallway. Nate whispered something, and Shane replied, "I was going to apologize."

I let a deep breath out, and walked over to my door. I laid my hand on the cool metal handle. I turned the knob, and opened my door. Shane and Nate just looked at me, and quickly averted their eyes. Nate was awkwardly scratching the back of his neck, and Shane started to nervously play with the hem of his black T-shirt. I left my door open, and walked back into my room. When they, or maybe just he, were ready, I would be waiting.

"Go," Nate stage-whispered, as Shane stumbled into my room. The door closed behind him. He just awkwardly stood there. I wasn't sure how to approach this situation. They don't exactly prepare you for something like this in school.

"Hey," Shane said, breaking the awkward tension in the room. He gave me a little wave.

"Hey," I replied, with a small smile. I swear, the palpable awkward tension in the room could have been sliced with a knife. It was pretty bad.

"About a few nights ago…" Shane started to say before he drifted off. I sat there waiting for him to finish. I wasn't to blame for this. He started the awkwardness, but I'm sure my avoiding him didn't help much. Shane cleared his throat before he continued, "I shouldn't have assumed anything."

"It's alright," I half-heartedly said. I mean, it was a bit crude to jump to conclusions, but I didn't exactly jump at the opportunity he presented. I could have handled it gracefully. I was so torn on this entire subject.

"Are we cool?" Shane asked, with a tiny, baby smile. I smiled back.

"I guess so," I softly said, before adding, "But, it might take time to get back to where we were."

"Oh," Shane said, his face falling. I groaned. I was messing everything up, AGAIN.

"No, not like that. It's just I got some heavy cold shoulder. I'll need some time to lick my wounds. But, I'll be all yours soon enough," I said, throwing a wink towards Shane at the end. I was trying to get some flirty banter back.

"Sounds good," Shane said, with a cute little smirk, before asking "So, what have you been up to for the past two days?"

"I'll show you," I said, with a bit of an attitude. I got my laptop, and opened it. He came over to where I was sitting on my bed. The webpage loaded back up. I shoved my laptop into Shane's lap, "Read it. It's a good article."

I watched his eyes as he read. I watched them move back and forth as he registered the words. I watched his reaction from a nice little smile from the picture. It slowly transformed into an angered face with the other girl gossip. It ended with no exact expression, perhaps just straight up confusion. He looked at me.

"No one said this was going to be easy," Shane said, as he closed my laptop, and put it behind us. I sighed. I knew that much.

"I know," I just simply said, as Shane took my hand. I instantly thought of when I learned about cooties. We overcame that obstacle. This should be no huge problem.

"_Who's your best friend?" A sweet girl from my kindergarten class asked by the swing set during one recess._

"_Shane," I said, smiling. I even pointed him out by the baseball field. The girl laughed._

"_You can't be best friends with a boy," The girl said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I shrugged it off, feeling a bit confused. But, I decided to get to the bottom of this._

"_Why?" I innocently ask, as she looked at me dead on. With the most serious face I had ever seen from a kid my age she started to explain about this thing called: cooties._

"_Boys have cooties," She said, as if this was the equivalent from getting sick. I laughed at her idea._

"_Cooties?" I questioned, not getting how being best friends with Shane could get me sick._

"_Yea. It's this thing they have, and it makes them icky," The girl told me. I didn't care about her silly words._

"_Well, how will I know if I get it?" I pretentiously asked. I mean, I wasn't going to stop being friends with Shane, but I needed to make sure that I knew how to wash my hands in case._

"_I'll give you a cootie shot, and you'll be fine," This girl said, as I backed away from her. I didn't like the idea of getting a shot. My eyes got all wide. When my doctor gave me a shot, it was the scariest thing ever._

"_I don't want a shot," I said, as she moved towards me, and I took one more step backwards. There was no way this girl was giving me a shot._

"_It's not a real shot, but it'll protect you," She said, as she took a step forward, and I didn't move, "My older sister taught me it."_

"_Okay," I said, holding out my arm, and I closed my eyes and turned away. I didn't know what she was going to do, but I didn't want to get this disease from Shane._

"_Circle, circle, dot dot dot," She said, drawing two circle on my hand with her finger, and adding three dots, "Now you got the cootie shot."_

"_That's it?" I asked. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be._

"_Yup," The girl said as she let my arm go, and it flopped to my side. I smiled, and thanked her, and ran off to tell Shane that he couldn't give me the cooties._

"Like cooties," I softly said to Shane. He looked at me with this incredulously confused stare. He even cocked his head to the side. I decided to explain, "I was told you had cooties in kindergarten. I got a cootie shot to protect myself from the disease that boys had."

"Well, Mike told me that girls had cooties. I told him that I didn't care," Shane said, as I aw-ed on the inside, "And, that I would be your best friend even if you did get me sick."

"Well, I guess girls are just smarter because I got vaccinated," I jokingly said, as I stuck my tongue out at him. He didn't retort to this. Instead, he just held my hand, and placed a soft kiss on my cheek.

**I'm sorry for the icky ending. I didn't know how to end this, but it needed to be ended. I mean, they both did some damage control. And, there was a lovely flashback because people like them.**

**PS. Have you ever gotten a cootie shot?**


	18. Girls Night In, Part One

**Alright, sort of a timely update. Definitely better than before. Anywhoos, just read on.**

**Disclaimer: Forget this. I don't own. Haven't owned for the last seventeen chapters, why now?**

"Boys, let's go!" Denise yelled for like the fifth time. She was anxiously tapping her foot as she stared up the staircase. Connect 3 was getting ready for some photo shoot, and radio interview today. And, us girls were already planning a nice day packed with sappy movies, mani / pedis, gossip galore, pizza, and listening to their radio interview. It sounded like a pretty good day. And, it couldn't start until they left.

"Shane didn't plug in his straightener, so it still has to warm up," Gabe said as he cascaded down the staircase. I could see the aggravation in Denise's face. I got up from the couch, and walked over to the stairs.

"Thank you," Denise whispered as I started to ascend the steps. I got to the top, hooked a right, and walked straight into the bathroom without even knocking.

"You are the most ridiculous person I know," I said upon seeing Shane just sitting on the counter. He looked completely ready to go, and I could even see a straightener anywhere.

"I knew my mom would make you come up here," Shane said, with a little smirk.

"Actually, I offered because she looked like she could have beaten someone up," I said with a little giggle.

"Oh well," Shane said, sliding off the granite countertop. He moseyed on over to where I was standing, and gave me a little questioning look with his arms held out wide. I took one step inward to his chest. He wrapped his arms around my waist. It was a lot easier to slip back into how we were than I thought it would be.

"Wait," I said as I started to think, "What did you do with Jason and Nate?"

"I told them that we had to leave later because of a schedule change," Shane said as if this statement made no sense. I wiggled out of his grip, and walked down the hallway to the guest bedroom.

"Hey," I said, opening the door. Nate and Jason were sitting on the bed where Gabe had been sleeping, hunched over a PS3. They both glanced up at me before going back to their game. I maneuvered through the piled of luggage, "I don't know what Shane told you, but you were supposed to leave like ten minutes ago."

"Oh," Nate and Jason simultaneously said before the game powered off. Jason placed it on the dresser as they left the room. I followed them out, and closed the door. I went back to the bathroom to make sure that Shane had gone downstairs.

He didn't.

"Shane, you need to leave," I mumbled, as he kissed my cheek. I bit my lower lip as I resisted every urge to not pull him back and capture his lips with mine.

"I just wanted that," Shane said in a small voice as he tromped down the stairs.

"About time, Shane," Denise said upon seeing the last of her boys to get down the stairs. I softly walked down the staircase. Denise had rushed her boys out, and closed the door by the time I had gotten to the living room.

"Finally," Sierra said, as she turned on the TV, and popped in the first DVD.

"I'm actually really surprised that you went up there," Caitlyn said, commending my bravery. I mean, as far as those two knew, Shane and I were on rocky ground.

"Well, Denise would have asked me to go up there sometime, or Shane could have gotten his face rearranged," I said, as the other two giggled at my wording.

"He kissed me," Sierra very quietly offered once the giggling had died down. Caitlyn and I both turned to a scarlet faced Sierra who was munching away on her bottom lip. A huge smile broke out on my face.

"Oh my god. That's amazing," I gushed, as Sierra lowered her head to the ground.

"When?" Caitlyn excitedly asked, when I realized I should have asked that instead of just bursting with happiness. Either way, I was excited for her.

"Last night," Sierra muttered as she tried to hide a growing smile. Silly girl. Smiling after a first kiss is simply magical, and bound to happen. But, something tugged inside of me. Something that wiped the smile off of my face.

Everybody was coupling up… Except for me and Shane.

It was so messed up. I was getting jealous of those two happiness with their Gray boys. My smile was gone, and replaced with a quizzical. The curly haired girls were too busy squealing about presumably the details. I sat there, and felt sorry for myself. It hurt. Everyone was happy with a nice boy. Everyone but me. I suddenly wasn't in the mood for sappy chick flicks. They would only be the reminder of what I lost.

"Mitch?"

"Are you okay?"

"Huh?" I asked, snapping out of my depressive inner-thoughts. I tried to focus on being happy for Sierra. I forced a smile onto my face. She gave me skeptical look.

"Stop fake smiling," Sierra ordered with a trace of concern. They both walked over, and took a seat on either side of me, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm excited," I said, pointing to my overdramatic fake smile, "You two kissed."

"No. That's you're I'm-sad-but-I'm-gonna-pretend-to-be-happy-for-everyone smile. What's wrong?" Sierra reiterated herself. I sighed, and sunk back into the couch cushions.

"Well, I was thinking about how cute you and Nate are," I said, as Caitlyn smiled, and I turned my head towards Sierra, "And, how happy you and Jason are."

"And, you feel left out?" Caitlyn asked in a small voice. I mutely nodded. Both of them reached in, and gave me a nice supportive hug. I hated feeling pitiful for myself.

"I felt left out when Shane sang that song for you," Caitlyn said, making my tummy do flip-flops. I smiled, and tried to hide it by biting my lip.

"And, I felt left out all those times in middle school when you had so many guys who liked you," Sierra said, as I vaguely remember the two entire guys who were like obsessed with me. It creeped me out, but I understood where she was coming from.

"He really likes you. You can tell by the way he looks at you," Caitlyn said, making those butterflies wreak havoc on my insides.

"And, the way he smiles at you."

"And, the way he kisses you."

"And, how much he talks about you."

"And, how he changed his attitude around you."

"And, how he would watch Johnny Depp with you."

"And, how he makes you feel like you're the only girl in the world."

"And, you really like him too."

"I can tell by the way you giggle around him."

"And, the way you look at him."

"And, how you talk about him all the time."

"And, how you told him about your dad."

"And, how you followed after him when he was upset."

"How you console him every time he gets upset."

"And, how you defended him when his dad told him that he was worthless."

"I get it!" I screamed, so the taunting stopped. My face must have been the color of a tomato; it felt as if the skin was going to burn right off. My stomach hasn't stopped rocking and rolling since he showed up. I don't think I've written such happy songs. I've get in a fantastic mood whenever he comes around. He's been the main character in the majority of my thoughts and dreams. Anything he says can make me smile. I don't know what this feeling is. But, I never want it to leave me.

Not that I would ever say any of that stuff out loud.

"Good," Sierra said, seeing as I had a very genuine, Shane-thought induced, smile.

"And, let the movie begin," Caitlyn said as she pressed play on the remote. The opening boat scene from _The Notebook_ started moving on the screen.

**Alright, so I chopped this chapter in half since it was so unbearably long. Reviews are very nice.**


	19. Girls Night In, Part Two

**A continuation of the last chapter, since I thought it was far too large for one read. And, I planned on updating Saturday morning. However, my internet crashed. My lovely cousin Kailee is letting me use her internet, so I can get on here. So, thank her for this chapter... Otherwise it would have been up much, much later. I hope you can all understand why this had taken so long to be posted.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own the right to the Camp Rock. But, I do own a bunch of glow in the dark animal bracelets. That's right. Be jealous.**

"Alright, and we're here with Connect 3," The radio man, who we had started calling George, said which was amplified through the speakers in the living room. We had been listening to these mindless songs, commercials, and George for the last hour. I mean, we gave each other manicures and pedicures to help pass the time. But, this was a bit ridiculous.

"And, sorry we were running late," Shane said. I laughed remembering the incident from this morning. The doorbell rang, as I got up and grabbed the twenty from the coffee table.

"It's all good," George said in a laid back voice, as I went to open the door, "Now, let's get a nice listen to the uncut version of Fly With Me performed live by Connect 3."

"Seventeen thirty-two," The pizza man said as a soft acoustic beat started playing through the room. I gave the guy the twenty in exchange for the box.

"Keep the change," I sweetly as he took the cash. His eyes glimmered in the moonlight as a smile erupted on his face. Shane's melodic voice started sweetly slipping over the guitar, piano, and acoustic notes.

"Thank you," The boy said, as if he had just won the lottery. It was the song that released another round of butterflies.

"No problem," I said, as I kicked the front door shut with my room. I followed the music as it got louder and louder until I was back with my friends. I put the pizza on the coffee table, with was already adorned with three plates.

"I'll get some soda," Caitlyn yelled over the music as she got up, and went into the kitchen.

"If it's you and me forever. If it's you and me right now. That'd be alright, be alright," Shane's voice rang out through the speakers in the living room. I opened the pizza box, and took a slice with a huge bubble on it; the bubbles are my favorite. Caitlyn came back into the room with three Sprites.

"Hey, I wanted the bubble," Caitlyn proclaimed upon seeing my chosen slice of pizza. I hadn't taken a bit of it yet, I just claimed it on my plate, "I got you soda."

"I paid for the pizza," I said, as Caitlyn didn't seem to bulge, "You could sleep outside if you wanted; it is my house."

"From the place where you needed to be, and that's right here with me," Shane sang, as my stomach did a back flip. I forced myself to take a bit of the morsel, even though my stomach was too busy tossing around from Shane to be hungry.

"That's low Mitchie," Caitlyn said, dropping the subject of the bubble slice.

"I'm sorry. Just the bubbles are my favorite," I said, as the song started to come to a slow end. I smiled, taking comfort in the entire atmosphere.

"Peter Pan and Wendy turned out fine, so won't you fly with me," Shane sang acapella as the song ended. I could hear George clapping, as the boys cheered for each other. It was nice version.

"So, what was the inspiration for that song?" George asked as my tummy refused to stay stagnant. My breath hitched.

"You can look to Shane for that answer," Nate said, throwing Shane under the bus. Someone awkwardly coughed.

"Well, there's pretty much this amazing girl, and we were younger we were going to fly to away with Peter Pan," Shane said, as I couldn't contain my growing smile, "Pretty much it's for her… About us."

"That's so cute," George gushed, as I was pretty sure he was gay, or maybe he was paid to act all cheery about this stuff, "So, where do you boys see each other in ten years?"

"Building birdhouses, being one with nature, definitely having a nice family," Jason said, as we all silently snickered about the birdhouses. It was sweet, and a tad bit weird. Either way, we still enjoyed his company. Especially Sierra.

"Wow. I hope to still be singing, entertaining people. I want to keep the lovely relationship I have at the moment going," Nate said, processing high hopes. Caitlyn swooned. Sierra and I both smiled for her. As for me, I was waiting with desperate anticipation.

"I'm want to keep making people happy. I don't care if it's with my brothers, solo, on the screen. And, in ten years, if I'm as happy as I am now, then I'm all good," Shane said, not mentioning me. At all. Unless I made him happy. I started over thinking everything. Before, Sierra or Caitlyn could console me, and make me feel better about Shane, George asked another question.

"Have you boys ever been in love?" George asked with absolutely no shame, "Because all of the girl fans say that they love you."

"Well, we definitely adore the support our fans give us," Nate said, swiftly avoiding the entire subject.

"And, in a lot of cases, we say that we love them back," Jason finished the rest of Nate's thoughts.

"But, I don't think any of us have been in love," Shane said, dropping the boms, and actually answering the question.

"Well, then what do you boys view as love?" George asked, getting into deep topics. There was a nice awkward pause.

"Well, uhm, I think love is giving your all for someone, and wanting to be with them, no matter what," Jason said, as the three of us girls smiled at his sickly sweet answer, "And, you may fight sometimes, but you never wanna be apart."

"Exactly. It's spending every waking moment with them, and in those slight moments you're apart, you want to be together," Nate said, as Caitlyn audibly aw-ed.

Shane cough before continuing, "Love is… when your stomach can't stop flip-flopping when she walks into a room," Shane said, as he carefully chose his words, pausing in between each one, "And, it's knowing that no matter what, you'll always, always, have each other to fall back on."

"That's very sweet boys," George said, as I was still in a semi-shocked state.

A slight pause resonated through the room, and some papers were shuffled. A throat was cleared, with some minor whispered.

"Are you boys having an exclusive concert release of your music?" George asked, surprising us girls with a new question. It was something unrelated to love.

"I believe we are," Nate said, as if he was questioning his own thoughts. I could just picture him looking around to his brothers to get some reassurance to the issue.

"We are," Jason confirmed as polished off the crust of my pizza.

"And, it should include some behind the scenes, and our new song which we just played," Shane said, obviously having the most information on the topic. I started to clean up the paper plates. Sierra joined me in the clean up effort, as she grabbed the remaining pizza slices.

"Last question… What's on your mind, right now?" George asked, as one of the boys went 'oh man.' Sierra put the extra pizza in the fridge, and I tossed the plates. We went back to join Caitlyn in the living room to finish off the radio interview.

"This girl that I'm going to leave once our tour picks up to a new stop," Jason said, as Sierra audibly aw-ed. They were so cute, and lucky to have each other.

"I could only imagine the look on Caitlyn's face when I said that I wanted to keep the relationship for the next ten years," Nate said, as Caitlyn buried her face into the couch cushion. Sierra and I laughed at her reaction.

"Johnny Deep," Shane said in the most serious voice. The three of us sitting around the coffee table, along with the other three in the radio studio laughed.

"Why?" George managed to ask through the laughter. I nibbled on my lip as a read hot blush creeped up my neck.

"Because this girl I'm into thinks he's hot," Shane said, as Sierra and Caitlyn turned to me. I furiously blushed, as Shane continued, "And, I'm trying to figure out what he has that I don't."

"Well, thank you boys for coming into the studio," George said, as a light beat to an overplayed pop song started to play behind their voices.

"It was our pleasure," Nate said for the group as the catchy heavy beat gradually got louder, before the singer started belting lyrics about love.

**I guess I'll leave you guys with this. I am kind of pleased with this. How do you feel about this chapter?**


	20. First Written Song Bits

**Oh my, oh my. Chapter twenty. I can't even believe it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own a thing. I haven't since I started writing this. Jeez.**

"There's one thing that Johnny Depp has that you don't," I whispered into Shane's ear, as my heart beat in my throat. He was peacefully sleeping on the pullout couch, with Nate and Jason. Shane twitched, before smiling.

"And what's that?" Shane softly asked as he smile didn't face. I quickly wondered if he was awake, and hear someone coming down the stairs.

"My heart," I said, and promptly walked away. I could only imagine the look on Shane's face, or the reason my heart hadn't leaped right out of my body.

"Where are you going?" Shane asked, his voice sounding gruff. I got to the very bottom of the stairs.

"I need my sleep," I said, as I yawned for added effect. Shane rolled off the edge of the makeshift bed, his feet softly hitting the floor. I stayed where I was as he walked over.

"Can I have something first?" Shane asked, about five feet away from me. He stopped, with a shy smile on his face. I didn't make a move.

"Only if you promise me one thing," I reasoned. Shane cocked his head at me, like a dog does when it gets all quizitive.

"Anything," Shane said, as if he was promising me the world. I smiled.

"Promise me that you won't break it," I softly muttered as Jason started to snore. I thought he had grown out of that habit. I softly giggled, as did Shane.

"Break what?" Shane seemed to innocently ask. I rolled my eyes. Shane took a few steps towards me, as I playfully backed away from him a bit.

"The one thing you have that Johnny Depp doesn't," I whispered, as if this was some huge drug deal that had to be kept on the down low.

"I won't," Shane with the utmost sincerity, as he advanced on me, "Promise."

"Oh," I said, as I backed into the wall, "And, one more thing?"

"What?" Shane asked, as he stepped even closer. He was just inches away from me.

"That all those other girls mean nothing," I said, my wording burning like fire, "And, be honest."

"They mean nothing," Shane said, as he placed his hands on the wall, one hand for each side of my head, "And, I mean that. They were little flings, little adventures. I just wanted to see if I could get them. I never had a real interest in them."

"You kind of disgust me," I said, half-joking upon hearing about his womanizing mannerisms.

"No, I don't," Shane called my bluff, "Besides, I'm still the little boy from your childhood. I just grew a bit."

"And, got an attitude problem," I said, sticking my tongue out at him as I ignored how his breath could be felt on my face.

"I fixed that," Shane retorted with the same defiance he had when he was a little kid. It reminded me exactly of when he was a little disobedient child.

"You know, I sat inside watching you guys play outside all day," Shane said, after I softly reiterated a story about when he was grounded when he was younger. However, Shane, Jason, and I got to play outside on my new Slip N' Slide.

"I'm sorry. I tried to warn you to listen to your mom," I coyly said, shrugging my shoulder at him. He was still leaning against the wall, his breath hot on my face.

"You didn't do a very good job," Shane pointed out, and I agreed with him. His face neared mine, to the extent where he only had one huge eye. I bit my lip.

"I think we still have that Slip N' Slide somewhere in the basement," I softly offered, clearly knowing that my mom was a packrat. She kept almost everything, whether it was sentimental or not.

"Which reminds me," Shane said, before pushing off the wall. He grabbed my hand as he walked off to where we shared our first kiss. He grabbed a CD from the end table in one swift movement, not skipping a beat. He turned on the computer.

"What is that?" I asked, eyeing the CD. I knew that none of our memories were on a CD; they were too far back in history. The computer started whirring to life.

"You'll see," Shane secretly said, before giving me another tiny piece of information, "My mom had her close friend in LA mail it over."

"What could be so important that your mom needed it to be shipped over?" I thought out loud. Shane zipped his lips, as the computer was on. The background was a field of daisies. He opened the CD-ROM drive, and placed the CD in. He pushed it closed.

Windows Media Player popped up, as the screen filled with a lovely shot of the floor. He paused it, before it got to two second loaded and buffered. He patted his lap because he was sitting in the only real chair in the room.

"Just a heads up," Shane said, as I sat on his lap, and hoped that I wasn't too heavy, "I was ten. And, I had been singing these songs since a week after we moved to LA… This was just the first time anyone got it on camera. And, it's the first time I ever tried writing some songs."

With that said, he pressed play, as I could feel my curiosity building up as the camera swept up to a small boy sitting on a plushy reclining chair with a guitar sitting in his lap. Shane.

"I love you one, two, three shooby doo. I love you four, but that's more I can afford. And, I can tell one day that I'm gonna say the truth. I love you five," Little Shane sang, in a much higher pitch than now, on the computer screen while simply plucking chords. I reached over, and paused the movie.

"Shooby doo?" I asked giggling, as Shane playfully stuck his tongue out at me, "More you can afford?"

"Hey! I wrote that when I was five," Shane said, pulling me closer onto his lap.

"Fine," I softly said, as my hand waved over the mouse. I pressed play, springing the young Shane back into action.

"Baby, I love you. I never wanna let you go. The more I think about the more I wanna let you know that everything you do it super duper cute. And, I can't stand it," Little Shane sang, strumming more chords. It sounded like a completely different song than the one before. I didn't press pause, as he stopped playing. Shane on the screen looked around the room, suspiciously.

"What are you doing?" I asked, not taking my eyes off the screen. He stopped looking around, and started to strum more chords.

"Oh my god. I had the most amazing time last night. I dreamt I saw you again that's when the flashback started to begin. They started slow, but they picked up fast. So, I got off my ass –"

"Shane Ryan!" I heard Denise yell from off camera. The young Shane's face contained pure shock. I paused it, laughing at his frozen expression.

"No, no," Shane picked my hand up off the mouse. He put his hand on it, and pressed play.

"I won't ground you," Denise said from off camera, as the younger Shane looked more comfortable, "Just tell me who those songs are about."

"No," Shane said, obviously embarrassed. He placed his guitar off to the side.

"Then, you're grounded for cursing," Denise simply said, as the younger Shane decided that it would just be better to tell.

"Mitchie," The younger Shane said, as he closed the video, and took it out of the CD-ROM drive.

"Those were about me?" I cautiously asked as Shane put the CD back in the envelope. He shyly looked down at his lap.

"You were watching the video, weren't you?" Shane asked, not looking up at me. He shut down the computer.

"I was," I softly said, pushing the curtain of hair separating my ducked head from his behind my ear.

"Well, then you know you know the answer," Shane said. I brought my face close to his, and in verbatim we both moved our faces, so our lips could collide; our lips making a smacking sound upon parting.

"Why did you sing those songs about me?" I asked, our foreheads leaning together.

"I don't know. I was young. I missed my best friend," Shane offered some options. I tilted my head into his, and captured his lips for a second.

"You sang 'I love you' in the majority of those songs," I stated the obvious, trying to figure out what was going on.

"I know," Shane said. And, that was it. The computer stopped whirring, signaling that it was off.

"There you are," Jason said walking into the room. Shane and I instantaneously pulled apart.

"Yup. Here I am," Shane said, sounding agitated that Jason ruined the atmosphere that was going on.

"Well, mom wanted to talk to you," Jason said, running one of his hands through his hair. He looked very awkward, and self-conscious.

"It's like two in the morning," Shane said, as I climbed off his lap. It was too weird with Jason right there.

"Okay, she doesn't wanna talk to, but I do," Jason said, as he eyed me, "Alone… If you don't mind."

"Not at all," I said, walking right out of the room. I yawned, remembering how tired I was. I went right up the stairs; I was out before my head hit the pillow.

**I liked it. I am extremely proud of this chapter. And, I am very excited about the next few chapters. I adore reviews. But, recently, the reviews have been lacking. Anyone wanna leave some love?**


	21. Shaking and Crying

**Well, I will update even though I am not feeling the love for this story from the reviewers anymore. And, in all honesty, I think I might just be giving up on this story. Whatever the case is... I still have this chapter to present.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own. Sorry.**

"What did Jason want to talk about?" I asked, letting my nosiness get the absolute best of me. I had just gotten downstairs where the boys were eating breakfast when Shane dragged my arm. We went to the room where we seemed to spend all of our special moments.

"He wanted tips on keeping a long distance relationship," Shane confided in me, once the door to the computer was shut and locked. I smiled.

"You know, he kissed her the other night," I gossiped like a little kid. I was almost bubbling over with excitement.

"I know," Shane acted like a girl with a shrill voice; he even waved his hands around as if he was really excited about this. I rolled my eyes, and laughed all at the same time. Boys could be so childish.

"Anyway, he wanted to talk to you about relationships?" I asked, trying to figure out why he wanted me to leave. I didn't mind. Man, I was exhausted.

"Pretty much. We talked for about an hour," Shane said, obviously thinking back to that hour. Someone tugged, and tried to twist the doorknob.

"Shane, open this door," Denise said, struggling to open the locked door, "Your dad wants to take you guys to the arena a bit early to try a new set up or something."

Shane kissed my cheek before walking over to the door. He opened it. His mother looked completely exasperated.

"He'll be here in ten minutes," Denise said, as I was positive Shane was freaking out about how he would get ready over in the arena, "They have a bathroom there. Just pack what you'll need."

"Mitchie won't fit in a bag," Shane joked, as Denise smiled, shaking her head. I could feel a slight blush rising up in my cheeks.

"She doesn't need to be stuffed in a bag. He has plenty of seats in his car," Denise said, walking away. Shane looked at me, before his eyes glanced up to the clock above my head. His eyes got large, before he ran off. I laughed at his actions today.

My stomach growling brought me back to reality. I still hadn't eaten breakfast, and Mr. Gray would be here in ten – make that nine – minutes.

---

"I can't do it. No way, no how," I said. Mr. Gray had taken Connect 3, Caitlin, and I into a conference room in the arena. We were seated around a large oak table with Mr. Gray at the head. He had made one, seemingly simple suggestion. However, I knew that the boys had to have something to do with this entire thing.

"Yes you can," Nate said, as Shane laid his hand on mine. I could feel my hand start to shake under his.

"But, you can't force her," Shane defended me. My insides were flipping more than they normally do when I seem to be around Shane; except his being wasn't making me nervous.

"He's right," Mr. Gray said, pointedly looking at Nate. His view switched to me, "It's her decision."

I could feel my hands clam up. Speaking of, they were still shaking. Shane tightened his grip around one of my hands. I had to physically think _breathe in_, _breathe out_. My thoughts were reeling. There was no way this was happening. I looked around the table, all eyes on me. My eyes locked on Mr. Gray.

"I'm sorry," I said, my jaw shaking. I shook my head, tears falling from my eyes. Shane got up from his own chair. He picked me up, and placed me in his lap. I curled into his chest.

"It's okay," Shane whispered, smoothing my hair. I could quietly hear some people leave the room. The tears started to subdue as the doors closed. I wasn't exactly sure what washed over me.

"I'm okay," I said, picking my head up from his chest. He rested his forehead against mine.

"No pressure. He didn't mean anything. You don't have to do anything," Shane said, his forehead still pressed against mine.

"I know," I whispered, barely hearing myself before retaining my voice, "Would it be possible to change my mind?"

"I don't know, Mitch," Shane sounded thoroughly concerned, and I understood the reasons why. But, something compelled me to do this. I wanted to do this.

"But, I want to," I said, moving away from his face. Shane still held me tightly in his lap. His face contained pure concern.

"You don't have to. You got really upset earlier," Shane pointed out facts. I nodded my head.

"Please don't make me worry you. I want this," I said, feeling motivated. I was definitely more confident about the situation than I was when I was shaking. Shane still looked apprehensive.

"One condition," Shane said, as I slid off of his lap. I stood up, bubbles rising in my stomach. I had gotten so excited.

"Anything," I said with a huge smile on my face. I bounced as Shane stood up, towering over me.

"I have to be there with you," Shane said, as I pondered this. I mean, him being there could be comforting, or he could steal the show from me.

"Sounds good," I said, snaking my arms around his neck. He turned around, and I hopped on his back. I got a nice piggyback out into the main room to tell everyone the news.

---

"Can I test the microphone?" I asked Caitlyn, as I bounced around the stage with Connect 3. They were making sure everything was right. She nodded. I took the microphone from the stand that was in front of Shane.

"When my world is falling apart, when there's no light to break up the dark, that's when I look at you. When the waves are flooding the shores, and I can't find my way home anymore, that's when I look at you," I softly sang one of my old, unfinished songs.

"Recent?" Shane whispered to me, as he tuned his guitar. I shook my head.

"Very old, in fact. Maybe fourth grade?" I admitted before develing into the more embarrassing information, "I wrote it for my mom after my dad left. It's the only part I have for the entire song."

"Hey, Mitch!" Caitlyn yelled, grasping my attention. I was set on her now, not Shane. She waved me over, saying, "If you're going to test the mike, actually test it. Otherwise, I could give it to the boys."

"No, no. I got this," I said, clearing my throat, "I'd like to sing a new-ish song."

"Any song would be nice," Caitlyn said, obviously stressed. Mr. Gray was leaning on her to get this place ready. He would be here for the last fifteen minutes before fans were let in to just check in on everything. This was the first time she had a huge responsibility. I understood why she was stressed. I handled stress worse than she did. I started to shake and cry.

"Sorry if it's rough. It's not really finished. I've been toying around with it since you guys came back into town," I cautiously said into the microphone, my voice wavering as Caitlyn stared me down.

"Mitch," Caitlyn warned. I twisted my hand on the microphone as my stomach knotted up. I bounced a bit before placing the mike back in the stand. I saw Caitlyn's exasperated expression. I walked over to Shane, and took his guitar. I nodded at Caitlyn, and started to strum.

"And, I feel, I feel a deep connection. And, I think that we may be onto something. No. And, I know it's something special. Seeing you here is not coincidental," I sang, with a coy smile on my face. My chords were relatively simple. I looked back at Shane, who was biting his lip and smiling.

"Well, I've been walking, walking behind enemy lines. And, I've been fighting, fighting from the other side. I've been saying, saying that I won't fall this time. But, now I'm walking, walking within enemy lines," I sang, as Connect 3 started to clap along with the beat. I smiled as the butterflies in my stomach exploded.

"See, I was trying to be everything you weren't expecting. All I ever wanted was to try and keep you guessing. But, I'm falling way too fast. I want thi love to last forever, forever. And, everytime I feel this way, oh, something's changed for the better," I belted out the lyrics, gainging motivation from the clapping. It was all so surreal.

"And, I've been walking behind enemy lines. And, I've been fighting from the other side. I've been saying that I won't fall this time. But, now I'm walking within enemy lines," I finished off my song strong with a hard guitar strum that reverberated. I laughed backing away from the microphone stand.

Shane wrapped his arms around my waist from behind me, and gave me a squeeze. I bit my lip, and tried to ward off the blush that was furiously making its way my neck. He snaked his head around to place a kiss on my cheek. The spotlight was turned on to where the microphone was. All eyes were on the bright light, where Shane and I were standing. Someone cheered from behind us.

"Carl, we are not doing lights now!" Caitlyn flipped, looking as if she could tear all of her hair out. The light turned off with a soft apology from the darkness of the arena.

"You want this love to last forever? We're in love?" Shane asked, as I turned into him. I swung the guitar so it was against my back, and my face was in his chest.

"I don't know what we're in, but I do want it to last," I mumbled, embarrassed. I didn't know how to word that one part. Of course it was the one that stuck with him. The one line I wasn't sure of. Just my luck.

"Alright, you two need to break it up. We have work to do," Caitlyn said, walking over and nearly tearing Shane and I apart. I handed the guitar over. Caitlyn walked over to yell at Jason and Nate, who were just fooling around with the drums and piano.

"Before she shanks me," I said in a hushed tone, so Caitlyn wouldn't hear me. Shane smiled, as I stood on my tippytoes, and placed a kiss on his lips.

"Mitchie, over here!" Caitlyn yelled from the side of the stage. I rolled my eyes, and walked over to where she was bouncing. I thought she handled stress better than I did. Guess not.

**I am so excited for the next chapter. I think it's going to be super long, and packed full of surprises. Whoo! However, you guys seriously need to review. It's Spring Break, and I will not be sitting around home typing up new chapters like some kind of hermit. I am going to need motivation to stay home, and write up the next chapter that I have a brilliant idea for. So, please guys, just press the harmless green button.**


	22. The Perfect Plan

**I am so excited for this chapter. I am nearly bursting. And, I found this splendid little homemade YouTube mash-up between Taylor Swift and the Jonas Brothers. (I have been on a Taylor Swift spree lately, so her songs will be incorporated in this chapter.) Anyway, if you want to here the two songs used in this chapter, head over to YouTube and type in 1) Superstar Taylor Swift, and2) Lovely Eyes Taylor Swift and Jonas Brothers. I'm not saying you have to, but it is highly recommended. Alright, enough of this nonsense. To the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I like pie. How many of you guys read this anyway?**

The plan was perfect. It took a lot of preparation, and rehearsing. But, I was ready. I had stopped shaking, and freaking out. I had at least two pep talks from everyone backstage. I was pumped. My confidence and energy levels were off the charts.

"Alright, we'll be back," Nate yelled, as the three of them ran off the stage for their intermission. However, to calm my nerves, Shane wouldn't let me open the show. Instead, I got to do the intermission for people who didn't run off the second the boys left. Regardless, I was still psyched.

"You got this," Shane said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek as I grabbed a microphone and ran onto the stage. I was ready to put on the show. However, my heart was still beating out of my chest. I ran around the stage, looking at everything. I was acting like a crazy fan that happened to end up on the stage. I took in a deep breath, and got ready for the night of my life.

"Oh my goodness, I love Connect 3!" I shouted into the microphone as many girls shrieked. I could feel my face heating up, "And, they don't know it, but I got up here. And, I have a surprise for them."

I held Shane's guitar which I had picked up from the stand near the drums when I was running around the stage, "It's a song. And, I wrote it for them because I love them!" My eyes got all big as if I was truly obsessed with them. I tried to block out the girly shrieks as I strummed the beginning notes before diving right in.

"This is wrong, but I can't help but feel like there ain't nothing more right, babe. Misty morning comes again, and I can't help but wish I could see you face," I sang, thinking about how I wrote this right after the boys hit the mainstream radio, "And, I knew from the first note played that I'd be breaking all my rules to see you. You smile that beautiful smile, and all the girls in the front row scream your name."

I strummed, figuring, I needed something to calm my nerves, and get them all hyped up again, "Which brother is your favorite?" I tried to focus on the many girls screaming out answers.

"So dim that spotlight, tell me thing like I can't take my eyes off of you. I'm no one special, just another wide-eyed girl who's desperately in love with you. Give me a photograph to hang on my wall. Superstar," I sang the chorus, my voice getting steady. I knew that a whole bunch of the audience felt the way this song was going.

My strumming for louder as a spotlight focused on me, "Good morning loneliness, comes around when I'm not dreaming about you. When my world wakes up today, you'll be in another town. And, I knew when I saw your face I'd be counting down the ways to see you. And, you smile that beautiful smile and all the girls in the front row scream your name."

"So dim that spotlight, tell me thing like I can't take my eyes off of you. I'm no one special, just another wide-eyed girl who's desperately in love with you. Give me a photograph to hang on my wall. Superstar," I sang the chorus, and I could have sworn that I heard some people trying to sing along.

I smiled at the notation that some of the girls were attempting to sing along with me, "You played in bars; you play guitar. And, I'm invisible and everyone knows who you are. And, you'll never see, you sing me to sleep every night from the radio."

"Alright, everybody now!" I screamed into the microphone that was on the stand, hoping to encourage more people to sing along with me, "So dim that spotlight, tell me things like I can't take my eyes off of you. I'm no one special, just another wide-eyed girl who's desperately in love with you. Give me a photograph to hang on my wall. Superstar."

My guitar strumming slowed a bit, until it was just my voice among the nearly silent arena, "Sweet, sweet superstar. Superstar." I finished. Girls screamed, and clapped. I was impressed with positive feedback I had gotten. Once, the arena quieted a bit.

"I can't take my eyes off of you," An amplified off-stage voice as I put on my panicked face. I ran over to put Shane's guitar back, and ran back to the microphone. Connect 3 walked over to me from the back stage entrance, but I wasn't supposed to notice this detail. A couple of girls in the front row looked shocked. I knelt down to them.

"What's wrong?" I asked in the most innocent voice. They just pointed back. I slowly turned around, and did my best fangirl scream. I just stood up. The boys came over, and we had a nice group hug, sans me acting.

"Alright, look, this is our friend Mitchie," Nate said into the microphone that I was singing into just moments before, "Say hi, Mitchie."

"Hey guys," I said, letting my fangirl act drop. It was much easier to be their best friend.

"And, she agreed to put on this little intermission show. Did you like it?" Jason asked the arena packed with tons of tween and teenage girls. There was an audible response.

"Because you guys liked it so much, we have another surprise," Shane said, to keep the cheering going.

"And, because you are the best Connect 3 fans ever," Nate said, pausing for a burst of cheers, "Mitchie came up with this idea."

Nate handed the microphone to me as the boys walked off to get ready, "Look, they have this song When You Look Me In The Eyes, and I have these lyrics called Love Story. We, basically, put them all together." – I mashed my hands together to signify how we collided the songs – "So, who wants to hear it?" More screaming. I smiled, and took the microphone off the stand, since I wasn't playing guitar this time.

"Not to mention, we have a little performance for it," Shane said into the mike, getting the fans more rallied up. I smiled as they started the beginning of one of their popular hits. Nate even did the 'oh yeah' –ing in the beginning.

"We were both young when I first saw you. I close my eyes, and the flashback starts. I'm standing there, on a balcony of summer air. I see the light; see the party, the ball gowns. I see you make your way through the crowd, and say hello. Little did I know…" I sang, center stage, with my childhood standing behind me.

"That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles, and my daddy said, 'stay away from Juliet.' And, I was crying on the staircase begging you please don't go. And, I said Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone. I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run. You'll be the prince, and I'll be the princess. It's a love story, baby, just say yes," I sang, as Shane came closer and closer towards the front of the stage.

"So, I sneak out to the garden to see you. We keep quiet cause we're dead if they knew. So close your eyes, escape this town for a little while," Shane and I harmonized, holding hands. The two of us started a tandem, simple dance around the front of the stage.

I sang the last part of my large piece, minus Shane, "Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter. And, my daddy said, 'stay away from Juliet.' But, you were everything to me, I was begging you, please don't go. And, I said Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone. I'll be waiting; all there's left to do it run. You'll be the prince, and I'll be the princess. It's a love story, baby, just say yes. Romeo save me, they're trying tell me how to feel."

"This love is difficult, but it's real," Shane and I blended our voices for one line, before I finished the section on my own, "Don't be afraid, we'll make it out of this mess. It's a love story, baby, just say yes."

Shane and I got closer on the stage, out bodies nearly touching as I finished my part, and he began his.

Shane picked up with the original lyrics to the beat, "More and more, I start to realize I can reach my tomorrow, I can hold my head up high, and it's all because you're by my side when you look me in the eyes…"

While Shane was singing his first solo, I twirled out to the end corridor that was masked with a little smoke. I ripped off the breakaway clothes to reveal a short, simple, sparkly dress. I was back in front of the audience in a matter of thirty seconds, with a brand new outfit. I could barely hear the audience cheer for my quick costume change, as I focused on Shane.

Which led seamlessly into my part, "And I said, Romeo save me, I've been feeling so alone. I keep waiting for you, but you never come. Is this in my head? I don't know what to think. He knelt to the ground, and pulled out a ring, and said," I sang, trying not to laugh as Shane got on one knee, and present me with a glitter covered Ring Pop.

"Marry me, Juliet," Shane sang, slipping the ring onto my finger, paying homage to our childhood, "You'll never have to be along. I love you, and that's all I really know. I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress."

"It's a love story, baby, just say yes," Shane and I harmonized, with this outrageous feeling building up in my chest. The entire screaming fans this, standing on stage singing with Shane. It was all too surreal. I kept my cool, even though internally, I was freaking out.

"We were both you when I first saw you," I sang my last line, staring into Shane's eyes. He had on a huge smile.

"I catch a glimpse of heaven. Oh. I find my paradise. When you look me in the eyes," Shane sang, finishing off the song with the two of us staring at each other from a distance. The rest of the background notes slowly faded away, along with Nate's added seemingly random vocals.

There wasn't a moment of silence before the entire arena burst into some kind of girly shriek that could burst any nearby windows. Shane and I walked into each, and then hugged. Jason and Nate turned it into a group hug. I started to laugh.

"Alright, now I know the fans love us…" Nate said, before drifting off.

"But, give it up for Mitchie!" Jason finished Nate's sentence. Shane pushed me forward towards the screaming crowd. It got a little louder.

"But, seriously guys, this was her first time performing in front of a group," Nate said, before enunciating, "Ever."

"And, as much as I'm sure everyone loved her performances," Shane said, as the cheering got louder. He waited till it died down a bit, "She has to go backstage, so we can finish our concert. Okay?"

"Say goodbye Mitchie on three," Jason said, as I started to walk off stage.

"One, two, three," Shane counted down before some hard to understand entire arena full of people said goodbye to me. Once, I calmly walked off the stage, I started to run to where Sierra and Caitlyn were hanging out. Before they could even congratulate me, I let every emotion out.

"Ohmygod, itwassogood. Ohmygod. It'smyfirsttime," I screamed, not taking a single breath between my words. I took a few hyperventilating breaths before I started again, "Oh, Iwassonervous. Could you tell I was nervous? Singing in public withaguitar. MM."

**And, I will leave you with that. It was kind of a filler, kind of a real chapter. Eh. I liked the entire last song with Mitchie and the boys. The thought of the entire last song happening makes me giddy. Can someone make it happen? Anyways, I like reviews. The green button does not hurt you, promise.**


	23. Never Say Goodbye

**I was thrilled that all of you really liked the mash-up. And, I was especially ecstatic at The Golden Notebook who knew that the lines from when Mitchie was hyper at the end of the chapter were from What The Buck! Also, we broke 200 hundred reviews! Pretty much made my entire day. You guys rule!**

**Disclaimer: One of my favorite numbers is twenty-three. Still don't own… if anyone cares.**

"Come on, boys," My mom yelled up the stairs, taking the place of Denise. I sighed, and sunk into the couch a little further. Denise walked over to my mom from the kitchen.

"Thank you for letting us stay here," Denise said, as I could feel my eyes tearing. My stupid girly emotions were getting the best of me, again. I swiped angrily at my face.

"It was no problem, really," My mom graciously said, as I crossed my arms over my chest. I wanted nothing to do with seeing them later. I wanted them to stay. And, I sure as hell wasn't going to say goodbye…because goodbye means forever. I would never say goodbye to someone.

"Hopefully, I'll be seeing more of you," Denise said, as I smiled at a small glimmer of hope, "Maybe in LA."

"Of course," My mom said, as I could hear the smile in her voice. A bunch of footsteps, followed by a lot of clobbering went from the second floor to the first. I sighed, yet again.

The excitement from last night wore off as Denise reminded them to get a good night's rest because they were leaving for another stop. They obeyed their mother's wishes. I tossed and turned in bed before silently sobbing myself to sleep around three in the morning. It was a horrendous feeling. It was such a good week. Why did they have to go and be all famous? Couldn't they just stay here? With him in my arms? It wasn't fair.

"Christmas," Jason said, surprising everyone. I peeked my head over the couch. Jason just continued smiling, "I haven't' had snow on Christmas since I was like seven."

"What?!" My mom was clearly appalled. I laughed, and flipped over the back of the couch like a professional acrobat.

"So, it's settled. You will be back for Christmas," I said, as Denise pushed the boys out the door with their luggage. Sierra finally came down the stairs with Caitlyn.

"I think you over packed," Sierra stated, helping Caitlyn carry her bags down the stairs.

"You think?" Caitlyn sarcastically said, before the dropped her bags at the bottom of the staircase. Shane and Nate walked back inside. Nate immediately took the bags from Sierra, to help his girlfriend get her personal effects to the car.

"I'm gonna miss you," Shane whispered as he cautiously made his way to me. I smiled, as Shane opened his arms. I tried to hide my bursting smile by biting my lower lip as I collided with his chest.

"No you're not," I stated, as Shane moved an inch away from me and looked me in the eyes. His eyes held all seriousness.

"Look," Shane said, before glancing at the chaos and audience around us. He led me by the hand into the room where we had first kissed. It seemed to be turned into our room. He cleared his throat, "You're pretty much one of the best things that has ever happened to me. And, I'm going to miss you loads. More than you could ever imagine."

I didn't say a word. I didn't know what to say. And, I knew that with Shane, not saying anything could have some major consequences. But, I wasn't going to let that happen; he wasn't either. We stood there staring into each other's eyes, as Shane opened his mouth.

"At least you can turn on the radio and listen to my voice. I'm not that lucky," Shane said in a small voice. I went to tell him how much I was going to miss him when he broke eyes contact. His eyelashes lowered as one lone tear started rolling down his cheek. I gently wiped it away with my thumb.

"It's pretty amazing the consequences the brought us back together. And, I remember spending all of Kindergarten praying that you would come home one day. And, how I wanted you to be here when my dad left. And, how we talked about going to Prom together; well, Prom is next year, and you're still going to be on tour. And, you're back, and I don't want to lose you. Ever. I cried myself to sleep at the thought of you leaving me, again," I confessed everything. Shane didn't even look at me, "You've been breaking my heart, slowly, each day since you moved to LA."

"Mitchie," Shane whispered my voice, and pulled me into his chest. I was too wrapped up in my emotional confession to even realize I was crying. I was an emotional wreck. I needed to think of happy things; cupcakes, unicorns, ponies, puppies, beaches. I stopped worrying about stopping my own tears when I felt tears dripping into my hair.

We were such a mess. The two of us were nearly falling apart at the idea of leaving. I rubbed his back, as he smoothed my hair. I could feel my lower lip quivering. I started to think: Wow, what a great last impression, Mitchie; crying the two last days that I'll see him in a while.

"Shane," I could hear Gabe tentatively say from the other side of the door. I couldn't stop the tears before I hear the doorknob being turned. I twisted my head away from the young boy.

"Gabe, not now," I heard Shane squeak out. I was positive Gabe was slowly backing out of the room. The door closed. There was a moment of silence.

"She got Shane to cry! I've never seen him cry before! Wow." I could hear Gabe from the living room sharing the news. I laughed, my tears starting to subside.

"I'll kill him," Shane jokingly threatened. I brought my head away from Shane's chest, and looked at him from an arm's length.

"Don't. He loves you. He's just a child," I said, wiping at my eyes; Shane started to do the same.

"Shane, we really gotta go, sweetie," Denise said, walking into the room without knocking. I smiled at her, even though I knew my eyes had to be red and slightly puffy.

"Okay," Shane said, placing a hand on the small of my back. He started to lead me out of the room with him. I stared at the ground, not exactly ready to look at everyone after I'd been weeping.

"And, Mitchie, I'm sorry about stealing him away," Denise said from behind us. I nodded. I knew that. He had responsibilities, blah blah blah. I came up with a mental list of the reasons he was obligated to leave, and why he should stay with me.

"I'll call you every night," Shane promise. I shook my head, with a smirk on my face.

"You can't promise that. School is starting soon, and I need my sleep. Then, some of your concerts end late," I pointed out; making sure if he didn't call one night, I wouldn't assume the worst.

"Okay. I'll text you every day, and call when I can," Shane said, as I smiled. I thought back to when I first re-met him. His head was always bent over his phone.

"Sounds good," I said, as Shane stuck his pinky out. I was about to seal the deal, but I withdrew my hand. Shane gave me a quizzical look. I looked from his pinky to his face, "And, no other girls."

"We'll keep an eye on him," Nate promised, motioning towards himself and Jason, who was wrapped up saying his goodbyes to Sierra. I rolled my eyes.

"But, I can promise it on my own, Nathaniel," Shane said, pulling out the full names. Nate brought his head back into the car, where I'm sure him and Caitlyn were snuggling up.

"Are you sure?" I said, linking my pinky with his once he nodded, "Pinky promises are sacred. You cannot break it."

"Boys, we're coming back for a white Christmas. It's less than four months away," Denise said, as my mom walked her to the driver seat of their car. I'm sure they were gossiping like little school girls about this past week.

"There will be no other girls because I love you," Shane whispered. He didn't even let me get in a word before he continued, bashful, "I'm not exactly in love. I mean, I'm not entirely sure what being in love with someone is. But, I'm sure I'll find it out soon. Anyway, I love. Like, I never want to lose you, and I'm sure I'll think about you all the time. Maybe I am in love –"

I collided my lips with his to stop his babbling. I could feel him smiling as our kiss deepened. I wasn't even the least bit embarrassed that our moms were right there, along with our closest friends. Shane's hands cupped my face, as I wrapped my arms around him tighter. I didn't want to let him go. It felt like it was just the two of us left in the entire world.

We parted, our mouths just centimeters apart, "I love you."

I could see his cheshire smile matching mine after we both said those three simple words. I curled my head into his chest, just so I could hear his heartbeat. He rested his face on the crown of my head. Denise clearly honked the car horn for us, but neither of us unwrapped from the embrace.

"Shane," Denise warned. I sighed, and pulled away from him.

"You have fans to attend to," I stated, putting up a strong front because I was not going to cry in front of him for a third time. Sierra was slowly walking across her lawn.

"I know," Shane said, in a very sad tone. He looked absolutely miserable. I'm sure I looked the same way. And, I was pretty positive that he felt the same sadness on the inside that I felt.

"Christmas," I said with a smile. He faintly smiled along with me. I placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"I have the perfect present," Shane said in a mysterious tone, making me want to know so badly. He started to back away from me, towards the car we had been avoiding for quite some time.

"Tell me?" I asked, hopeful. He opened the car door, but didn't get in.

"It'll be the one thing to keep you waiting," Shane said, with a sly wink. He kissed my lips one more time, as I savored the moment. He pulled away all too soon, and closed the door. Sierra was right by her front door. She waved as the car rolled down the street, away from where those boys clearly needed to be. Then, she escaped inside, and I was positive that she felt as yucky on the inside as I did.

"Less than four months," My mom said, coming over to me. She wrapped her arms around my body from behind me, and rested her chin on the top of my head.

"I know," I said, sighing. She turned me around, and led me towards the front door. As we let ourselves into our home, I couldn't help but notice how much quieter it was without rambunctious, hormonal boys running around.

"Help me make chocolate chip pancakes?" My mom offered, as I silently nodded. The week was over. If I could get through the rest of today, I could get through life until Christmas. Plus, I had Sierra as a support system.

**Fin. The official end to the story. However, because I love my reviewers far too much to leave them on kind of a sad chapter, I am working on a Christmas reunion epilogue. So, don't un–alert this quite yet. I would love to hear thoughts on this chapter, the entire story, the upcoming epilogue.**


	24. Christmas Epilogue

**Here's the Christmas epilogue. I wrote this so all of my lovely followers and reviewers weren't left with a bittersweet ending. Hope you all enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I wish it was Christmas. Oh well. For the last time, I do not own Camp Rock.**

The doorbell went off, as I sprinted from the kitchen where my mother, Sierra, and I were icing gingerbread men. I flung the door open, to reveal my favorite people dressed in their holiday best. I screamed an excited kind of scream. The smile that followed the scream was ready to burst right off of my face. Sierra soon ran into the living room right after me.

"Hey," I hugged Nate, and then Caitlyn. Jason came after, with Caitlyn lingering near the door with Nate. Jason and Sierra were united. Gabe jumped onto me, and I kissed his cheek. He ran off towards Sierra. I gave Denise a tight squeeze before she went off to the kitchen. Nate closed the door. I was so confused. Where was Shane?

"Cover your eyes," Nate instructed, as I shut my eyes, and placed my hands over them.

"Where's Shane?" I asked aloud. He promised me a fantastic – perfect even – present. And, I deserved to see him. I mean, any kind of communication over the phone wasn't the same. We even chatted via webcam, but I couldn't hold him or smell him. I needed him here. I had been counting down the days. It wasn't fair. Sierra got Jason. So, I needed to have Shane. Selfish? Of course.

"Walk," Nate was the only thing Nate said. I tentatively took steps as Nate led me by the elbow. A door opened. We walked into the room.

"Open," I heard Shane say, as I removed my hands from my eyes, and opened my eyes. He was standing there with a large, floppy bow on his head. I silently giggled to myself. Nate left the room, closing the door behind him.

"I missed you," I said, walking over to Shane. Once, I got closer to him I took in deep breaths, inhaling his scent. Soon enough, I was accustomed to his cologne that he didn't have a certain scent to him anymore. I wrapped my arms around him.

"Merry Christmas," Shane whispered, hugging me so tight that my feet lifted from the plushy carpet. I smiled, my heart smiled, and the butterflies fluttered around in my stomach again. These were the moments I was waiting for.

"Why are you wearing a silly bow?" I innocently asked, once my feet were firmly back on the ground.

"I'm your perfect present," Shane said, taking a few steps back, and flinging his arms outward. I laughed like I hadn't laughed since the summer. It was perfect.

"Come on," I said, taking his hand. I wanted to show him the gingerbread man that I made of him.

"One thing," Shane said, capturing my lips before we left. I stumbled backwards, my back flat against the door. I pulled him closer into me. I tried to take him in like I never had before. His hands were tangled in my hair as we furiously made out where we had first kissed.

"It sounds like there's two animals in there," Gabe remarked in a loud tone, I could hear him through the door. My hands gripped Shane shoulders, and made sure we stayed together. I could feel Shane smiling.

"Gabriel!" Denise warned her youngest son. I suppose it was kind of reassuring that he hadn't changed a bit.

"Did Shane get Mitchie a puppy?" Gabe pressed on. I giggled at his question even though he was in the other room. I missed him.

Shane pulled away from me, both of us breathing heavy. I could feel a ridiculously huge smile growing on my face like it never has before. Shane had the same cheshire smile that he had after we said everything worth confessing to each other. I stepped towards Shane, and rested my head against his chest. I could hear his heart beats, and his chest rising with each attempt to catch his breath.

"I love you," Shane whispered, as butterflies exploded throughout my stomach. My smile did not fade a single bit. He kissed the top of my head.

"I love you, too," I said in a hushed tone. The door opened, as I furiously lifted my hands to my hair to smooth it out. I saw Shane fiddling to fix his button down shirt. Nate laughed, and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Mom says to knock it off, and celebrate with the family," Nate simply said before he walked back to the living room. Shane and I interlaced our fingers as slowly trailed behind Nate. Gabe was the first one to come up to us, his mouth full of gingerbread cookie.

"Miffie, whur o puffy?" Gabe asked, before swallowing. His mom reprimanded him to chew, swallow, and then talk. He swallowed, and tried again, "Where's your puppy?"

My mom and Denise tried to muffle their laughter as my face heated up. Nate, Caitlyn, Jason, and Sierra didn't cover their boisterous laughter. Gabe looked around, a little confused. He asked a simple question, and now everyone was laughing. I'm sure such a young boy wouldn't understand this for quite sometime, at least I was hoping.

"Well, you see Gabe, he didn't get me a puppy," I said, as Shane started to awkwardly rub the back of his neck. I could only imagine what the little boy could say next. Whatever it would be, I would never be ready for it.

"Oh," Gabe simply said, seeming satisfied with my answer, "I asked Santa for a puppy."

"Did you get one?" I asked, really wanting to know; well, anything to get off the topic of what was going on in the room between Shane and I. His eyes flashed to our Christmas tree.

"Well, I'm not sure. My mommy said that since we were gonna be on the road for Christmas, she had Santa drop our presents off here," Gabe said, as he got a little antsy. I remember receiving boxes and boxes form Denise. Never once did I ask about them, or make any assumptions. It was rather smoothly played on the adults parts.

"Why don't we go see if you got that puppy Gabe?" Sierra said, leading the little boy towards the sparkling tree. Jason followed right behind her. I deterred Shane from heading to the tree.

"Look," I said, holding up a gingerbread cookie of Shane that I had decorated that morning, "It's you."

"I bet I'm yummy," Shane said, as he bit off his head. I laughed as he said 'om nom nom' as he chewed on his head. I could hear paper being torn in the other room. I walked out, as Shane started eating his legs.

"I wanted this!" Gabe exclaimed, holding up some kind of game. I dismissed it, as Sierra let her parents in. My mom walked over to chat with them.

"I was right," Shane said, as he led me over to the Christmas tree, "I was yummy!"

"Good," I laughed, knowing that my cookies weren't absolutely horrible. Gabe waved a red and green wrapped box in my face.

"This one is for Mitchie," Gabe said, handing me the box. It was from Santa. I rolled my eyes, knowing that Santa was my mom. I had known since fourth grade, after my dad left. But, for the sake of Gabe, Santa still existed.

"There's a pile for Shane over there," Jason said, pointing to near the couch. There was a small pile of present wrapped in the same green and red striped paper that 'Santa' had used.

I crawled over to where Shane was tearing the paper off one of his boxes. Sierra's parents had been talked into going into the kitchen with my mom. Denise quickly escaped into the room where the adults were. I opened my box. They were the red skinny jeans I had been begging for. I hugged them to my body.

"Here's another one of Mitchie," Gabe said, as he turned into the official gift giver. I took the box, before he quickly held another one out for me, "One more."

"Thanks Gabe," I said, as Shane was shrugging into a new sports jacket. He already had a little basket of hair product sitting next to him. I tore the paper from the larger of the two present. I stopped mid-tear because Gabe slid another large box next to me.

"Dang Mitch," Caitlyn remarked at the size of the present next to me. I finally cleaned off the one I started working on before. The latest Rock Band. I knew what the other box was. Everyone seemed equally thrilled at the present. I opened the other big present; the drum set.

"You can all play once this room is cleaned up," My mom warned, poking her head into the living room for a split second. Suddenly, everyone started picking up bits of paper.

"I can set it up," Jason offered, however Sierra and I both knew he wouldn't be able to set the entire thing up by himself.

"I'll help you figure out where to plug everything," Sierra said, in a very nice tone as Jason smiled at her contribution.

"I'll set up the drums," Nate said, pulling the drum set box off to the side. I still had a very small, wrapped box sitting in my lap. I moved up to the couch to get out of everyone's way. The paper on this box wasn't the same as Santa's wrapping paper.

"What can I do?" Gabe asked in an ambitious tone. I looked at the two couples who had taken over. It wasn't like I knew how to set all of the technology up anyway.

"Gabe, you can help Jason set up the guitar," I said, as Gabe nodded and walked off. Sierra was attaching everything to where it needed to go. I smiled knowing that I knew that Jason didn't know how to set everything up. Shane joined me on the couch.

I fiddled with the tape that was holding the paper on. Once it was off, I realized the box looked like it could have held an engagement ring. I looked over the paper for some kind of sign about who it was from. I opened the box, assuming the person that gave this to me was Shane.

"It's a promise ring," Shane said, his face turning the color of the stone sitting in the middle of the band.

I didn't say a word. I just looked from Shane to the ring, and back to Shane.

"As in, I promise that I love you," Shane said, before he kissed my cheek. I was positive that my face was tinged a lovely shade of deep pink. Shane cleared his throat, "My mom said it was a good idea. But, if you don't want –"

"Stop talking," I said, pressing my index finger to his lips, "I want it. I just don't know what to say."

"Say that you'll accept the promise," Shane said, as the world seemed to disappear. I smiled.

"Of course, I accept it," I said, as Shane's lips turned into a large smile. He took the ring, and slid it onto my ring finger.

"They're getting married!" Gabe exclaimed, snapping me back into reality. I just laughed at his childish remarks. I didn't bother arguing, or saying anything about it. Shane held my hands.

"I will always love you," Shane said as his lips were pressed against mine in the most innocent way ever.

"Mr. and Mrs. Gray," Gabe said, recognizing that we were already married, or something else in his twisted mind, "It's time to play!"

**And, that's what I will leave you all with. I hope you enjoyed this story, the epilogue, everything. It's weird to end this story since it has been the only thing I've been writing for the longest time. But, it's time to explore new ideas. Therefore, there will be no sequel to this. I am sorry for everyone who wanted one. I just feel it's time to move one.  
And, this epilogue is for the reviewers. I don't know what I would have done without some of you. Anyways, this is the absolute last chance to review this story. Hint hint.**

**I started writing another Camp Rock story. It's called Serendipity. I posted the first chapter at the same time I posted this, so if you want to check it out, it's up.**


End file.
